-says Minister Mustapha
MINISTER of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, is of the view that BK International is to be blamed for Monday’s flooding at Little Diamond, East Bank Demerara, and should compensate over 100 residents who have lost millions of dollars in appliances and other valuable household items.
According to information received by this publication, flooding of the area began sometime around 03:00hrs on Monday, while most residents were asleep.

Investigations have so far indicated that the flooding was primarily due to a “slushy patch” near the koker in the community, where BK International has been contracted to do work. The Ministry of Agriculture has given the construction company up to the end of May, 2021, to complete the Little Diamond koker project which was awarded in 2017 by the previous government.
Residents on Monday indicated that sometime late last week, BK’s excavator had fallen into a hole. The much larger hole which was left after the piece of machinery was pulled out allowed the water to breach the sea dam.
Minister Mustapha visited the community around 08:30hrs to get a first-hand look at the situation and to interact with the affected residents.
He noted that following the mishap with the excavator which left a visible breach, the company’s workers made no effort to repair the damage or put measures in place to prevent any flooding that could have occurred, especially in light of the spring tide. He noted that many of the residents have very expensive appliances which were damaged as a result of the flooding.
“I myself want to say that the contractor [BK] should have been up front in terms of getting this breach rectified early.
It seems like yesterday when they had the first sign of it, they didn’t do any major work to stop it and as a result of that this morning we had this serious breach. I am saying that the contractor should compensate these people, because as I said the residents indicated that when they ask[ed] the operators and other workers, they didn’t pay any heed to the concern that they raised,” said Minister Mustapha.
URGENT HELP NEEDED
Meanwhile, Minister within the Minister of Public Works, Deodat Indar, who also visited the community, said residents are hurt and frustrated. “Fridge was floating in the people house, their beds were floating, everything was damaged. They don’t even have mattresses to sleep on anymore, everything was soaked. Those people are hurting and they need help,” he said.
Since 2017, there have been four breaches, with Monday’s breach being the most damaging to residents. The first breach occurred on New Year’s Day, the second on Phagwah Day and the third which occurred on Sunday resulted in minor flooding.
“For me, I am saying if you know there is a slushy piece and its spring tide now and the water is going to rise, you should’ve made a better impolder. Every single resident in that area right now is frustrated with the contractor,” said Minister Indar.

Minister of Public works Juan Edghill and Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn, along with the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) Director-General Lieutenant-Colonel Kester Craig, visited the area at different times during the day to assess the damage with the aim of providing timely relief to the Little Diamond residents.
Additionally, the government through the CDC distributed cleaning supplies and food hampers to those affected.
“We have people from the CDC on the ground right now. I have been talking to Colonel Kester Craig and some cleaning items from government’s side will be there and they will give them back some ration and so, some hampers, because some of … the food was at a particular cupboard and the water would have [sic] destroyed them. The water was really high, so it even destroyed most of their appliances and their furniture as well,” said Minister Indar.
Further, he said residents are faced not only with damage to their household appliance, but there has also been significant losses to residents who were rearing livestock in the community, and those who have gardens which provide incomes.
In the meantime, the Public Works Ministry is working to ensure that the breach is sealed with a temporary fix to prevent more flooding as works on the koker continue. The ministry is also working to ensure that the grass in the trenches alongside the river dam are removed to improve the speed of drainage in the area.