– NDC tries to remedy situation

By Vishani Ragobeer

FEW communities along the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) have been flooded out as the year-end rainy season, which usually commences in mid-November and lasts until January, began with heavy rainfall.

During the early hours of Monday, heavy rainfall caused flooding in the communities of Success, Mon Repos, Lusignan and Annandale. Mon Repos was particularly hard hit given that the drainage pumps in the area were not operational until much later in the day.

“Since we wake up this morning, floodwater was in our house and our shop and everything start damaging,” Debbie, a resident of First Street Mon Repos, told the Guyana Chronicle. She related that, with each rainy season, the environs are usually inundated quite easily. She attributed this to the poor maintenance of the community’s drainage system.

She said, however, that this rainy season has been the worst in a number of years given that the water has made its way into her home; this does not usually occur.

When this newspaper visited the area, Debbie’s shop was closed and many of her products were stored on shelves and countertops; inside her home; furniture was packed away. She also highlighted that her wooden cabinets became waterlogged and started to swell.

A coconut vendor, who lives north of the Mon Repos public road, Mala Salik, is another business person who was affected by the rainfall. She lamented that she has to discard about $200,000 worth in coconuts because the storage space became inundated with contaminated flood water; her house was also inundated.

“It’s everybody affected and we can’t really blame no one body for what happened but we want some help with cleaning up the place,” Salik said.

Chairman of the Mon Repos/La Reconnaissance Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), Ayube Mohammed, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, said that the council was actively attempting to remedy the situation.

CHALLENGES

He disclosed that the drainage pump at Mon Repos was not operational as an excavator had to clear the overfall first. The Annandale pump, a neighbouring pump which also helps to drain the flood water, is only functioning at half-capacity as one of the engines is being repaired.

Additionally, the NDC encountered some challenges which prevented it from sufficiently cleaning the drains in the area ahead of the rainy season.

According to Mohammed, the NDC has only been able to collect 30 per cent of its taxes for the year so far due to constraints created by the COVID-19 pandemic. And as such, the NDC’s cleaning crew has been sent home.

A team from the Ministry of Public Works, through its Community Infrastructure Improvement Project (CIIP), has been working for the past two weeks to assist with cleaning efforts, but Mohammed said that the team only works for four hours each day. Even so, he lamented that residents too have a responsibility to keep the internal drains clean, so that the water would drain much faster. .

Additionally, the drainage system of the newly-expanded ECD road has presented some challenges.

“Those drains are built slightly higher than what they used to be, so the water has to build up to a slightly higher level in people’s yards before it can drain off,” he said.

Rupert Williams, a resident for more than 30 years, also said that the drainage system on the new roadway presented some challenges. He said that he observed a large layer of sand beneath the drain, which does not allow much water to be held within. Thus, flooding occurs much faster.

MORE RAINS COMING

Monday’s downpour, which resulted in flooding, was only the beginning of the year-end rainy season, and much more rain is expected.

According to the Hydrometeorological Service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Guyana is currently transitioning into the secondary or short rainy season which typically lasts from mid-November to January.

“Atmospheric conditions are favourable for the commencement of the rainy season and, therefore, forecasters have high confidence that the transition to the rainy season has begun,” the Hydrometeorological service said.

“This means that an increase in rainfall activity over the coming weeks and into the next three months is expected.”

Though an increase in accumulated rainfall is expected, it is not expected that there will be rainfall every day throughout the season. Instead, it is forecasted that there will be periods with reduced or no rainfall as well as periods of excessive rainfall.

The Hydrometeorological service, however, advised that persons should be prepared as the potential impact of the rainy season on lives, livelihoods and infrastructure is well known.