Dochfour residents will likely be surrounded by foetid floodwater this Christmas as up to yesterday the Hope koker and pumping station had not been effective in draining the area.
For more than two weeks over two feet of foul-smelling, stagnant water has been on the land. The water has transformed the streets and yards of Dochfour into a soft cushiony bed for the holiday and, although it has receded approximately one and half inches, it does not appear that it will be gone anytime soon especially as the rain is continuing.
The Hope koker, no pun intended, was the only hope residents had left of having the floodwaters recede for Christmas. However, although the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) has desilted and deepened the koker’s outfall Dochfour’s misery has not receded.
In a press statement on Monday, the Ministry of Agriculture had said a Hope koker operator was dismissed owing to negligence in the discharge of his duties and that efforts were being made to get the koker up and running. It is not clear what exactly the attendant was dismissed for as he could not be held responsible for the siltation.
When Stabroek News visited the koker yesterday, shortly after 1pm, a pump attendant said that the koker had been opened during the low tide earlier that morning. The pumps at the drainage station had been functioning since 10 am but still the water remained stagnant in Dochfour.
Why has the koker not been steadily maintained? Why only now after the flood are they trying to make things right? What will our lives be like for the New Year? These were the questions residents pondered yesterday.
“Since the last flood in 2005 I can’t remember anything ever being done to that koker,” Rampersaud Persaud stated. “Is only after the floodwater accumulate then they start to work on that koker,” he explained.
Several other residents expressed similar views. However, there was one farmer who told Stabroek News that he recalled some work being done on the Hope koker once during the May/June rainy season.
Is a man you call Beast…he name Mohamed Salim…he is de man in charge of all dem sluice and pump station up this side,” one farmer who only identified himself as Bobby said.
“Wa dat koker? It nah wuk properly…is only after we done get de flood then de people coming and try to do something about it,” Bibi Fareeda Ali said, supporting Persaud’s contention.
Ali, the wife of a Dochfour rice farmer, also explained that the longer the water stays on the land the more rampant the snakes and caimans become.
“We ain’t going to be walking no way this Christmas…de only thing lef fuh do is cook and eat if we can do that,” she declared.
Water and Health Services
The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) was present at Dochfour during this newspaper’s visit yesterday. Members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) were distributing purified drinking water to residents.
“We’ve visited several villages…the water is taken from the East Bank Demerara well and it is purified…they can drink and cook with it,” a CDC worker explained.
However, many residents have been making an effort to store as much rain water as they can. They told Stabroek News that they “have a feeling” that the water is going to stay for a while and the only way they could improve their situation was by helping themselves.
In addition to the CDC presence, a group of health workers from the Ministry of Health was seen exiting the area shortly before noon yesterday. Residents explained that the workers handed out pamphlets, a bottle of Chlor-O-Phan and ten Panadols.
The Clonbrook Health Centre is responsible for providing health care services for Dochfour, Ann’s Grove and Clanbrook. A medical team, according to residents, had visited their homes Sunday.
“They give us some advice and tell us to go to the health centre for treatment,” an elderly Dochfour woman explained.
Bachelor’s Adventure
to Bareroot
Residents of Bachelor’s Adventure, Enterprise Housing Scheme and Bare Root have also suffered as a result of the recent flooding.
While the water has receded greatly from the Bareroot and Enterprise areas some parts of Bachelor’s Adventure still have up to three feet of water. Residents reported that while they are happy that some of the water has drained off they still fear the rains yet to come.
Many yards in Bareroot still have pockets of water and slushy mud. However, there are a few exceptionally low-lying areas that have more than four inches of water. One such place is the yard of Narinedai Narine.
Narine, the mother of seven, lives in an old wooden structure that is collapsing around her. The woman said that she is a domestic worker and can hardly afford “anything better”.
“Meh 7-month-old baby sick…is cause ah this flood and I still got to walk through the water and mud to go get lil wuk fuh feed dem,” Narine explained.
There are many others like Narine in the Bareroot area who have expressed similar sentiments.
Last Street, Bachelor’s Adventure had over three feet of stagnant water yesterday. Residents have been forced to relocate their livestock in an effort to keep them from perishing.
“This water here since last week Friday or so but it gone down couple well inches,” resident Eric Stoll explained.
The water has receded from a section of the man’s yard but all that remains is watery mud which the man and his family must plough through on their way in and out of the yard.
Stoll explained that while he wasn’t sure what measures were in place to assist in getting the floodwaters off the land he had been told that pumps had been placed at Melanie. However, a visit to the foreshore behind the Melanie Housing Scheme revealed only one portable pump in operation.
The drainage systems of Bachelor’s Adventure, Enterprise and Bareroot are interlinked. Each community depends upon the same outlet to get rid of the remaining floodwaters.
Lionel Wordsworth, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NDIA, visited several work sites along the East Coast Demerara yesterday. Stabroek News made several attempts to speak to him via telephone but failed.
Clement Corlette, Chairman of the Regional Democratic Council for Region Four, was also unavailable for comment.
The Buxton NDC is responsible for the areas between and inclusive of Buxton and Foulis. Randolph Blair, who is the Chairman for that NDC, was unavailable at the time.
