Work intensifies to alleviate WCD flooding
A section of the flooded seaward side of Den Amstel Village (Delano Williams photo)
A section of the flooded seaward side of Den Amstel Village (Delano Williams photo)

Heavy-duty machinery belonging to BK International have been mobilsed and immediately put into action to shore up areas on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD) affected by overtopping of the river defence on Saturday.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) Frederick Flatts said due to the work done, including at Hibiscus Garden Place, a gated community at Blankenburg, the area was not affected by the afternoon high tide.

He noted that the NDIA was lending assistance to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MoPI) as it usually does whenever there is flooding.
Guyana Chronicle on a visit Saturday morning observed that the Den Amstel Woman’s Development Association New Horizon Day Care Centre and Play Group, the Community Centre Ground, the Ebenezer Congregational Church and a play school in the church yard and several residences were inundated.

Pockets of villagers were seen on the roadside or closer to the seawall or merely gathered near their homes watching as the waves overtopped the wall and the water gushed into the drains.
One villager expressed concern for the losses that the Day Care Centre and Play Group may have, since according to her, the building has a washing machine, barrels with books and refrigerator, among other things.

Health Administrator of Region Three Kathleen Armstrong, who resides at Den Amstel, told the Guyana Chronicle that when she visited earlier in the day, the Den Amstel Police Station, the Post Office and several homes in the village, as well the communities of Blankenburg, Fellowship, Cornelia Ida, Anna Catherina, Oceanview and Uitvlugt were under water from the early morning high tide.

According to her, some residents complained that they had knee-high water in their homes but most of it drained off by midday. The flooding also affected a planned burial of a resident at the Den Amstel cemetery. The burial, residents say took place at Stewartville instead.

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