-Regional Administration working to bring relief

By: Indrawattie Natram

SEVERAL communities in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) are currently inundated following heavy and continuous rainfall over the last few days.

Regional officials are working to bring relief to the affected residents.

Residents of Zorg, Suddie, Land of Plenty, Anna Regina New Housing Scheme, Somerset and Berks, and Paradise were busy over the weekend and early Monday morning bailing water from their homes and putting sandbags at their doors to reduce the flow of water.

In the Lower Pomeroon, areas such as Marlborough, Martindale and Hackney Lowlands were flooded. Residents reported that their kitchen gardens, lower flats and farms were under approximately four inches of water. Many of the crops were in the blossoming stage.

Residents of Zorg Village said they have never experienced this level of water accumulation on the land and blamed this situation on poor drainage compounded by the heavy rainfall.

At Capoey Mission, an Amerindian settlement, the conservancy was overflowing onto the dam.
While there was no report of a breach, residents and a team from the Regional Administration are working to get sand bags to the area.

Regional Vice-Chairman, Humace Odit, who overlooks Drainage and Irrigation (D&I) in the region, said that several pumps are operable and all slucies are working.

He said too that a team from the Regional Administration’s D&I department is monitoring the situation and every eight hours an assessment is made.

Regarding flooding on the Essequibo Coast, Odit informed that several pipelines have been installed in the Zorg area to assist in the draining off of the accumulated water.

He said while the continuous rainfall has resulted in a high accumulation of water, the conservancies at the Unu Creek, Riverstown and Good Hope are open. This, he explained will ensure that the floodwaters in these residential areas recede.

Additionally, he informed that the team is working tirelessly to ensure that the floodwater in all areas recede so that life could return to normal for residents.

Officials of the Anna Regina Town Council visited several areas in the township to assess the situation.