Residents of Liverpool, Corentyne and surrounding areas are battling flooding which has been pumped up by incessant rain over the last few days.

O’Neil Leitch, a retired headteacher of Liverpool village told Stabroek News from his upper porch yesterday, that he has lost many of his cash crops over the past few days due to water that has accumulated on the land.

He blames the poor maintenance of the drains and the lack of action by the relevant authorities. He feels the main canals need re-digging and the front of the koker has to have a dragline and not a hymac to clear it, “and if this is done within two days the water will go away.” But instead, he said the dragline is permanently stationed in the area where a regional official lives, keeping that channel clear, “if a ship is sinking, the captain should be the last person to leave; these people looking after themselves first”.

Drinking water will be a significant problem, he said, as all of the pipelines are under water and with the pit latrines submerged “stuff coming out from them and floating all over the place. You frighten foh walk in the water. If that channel was cleared nothing like this would a happen.”

All areas within the Lancaster-Hogstye NDC are under water. Some more affected than others. But no one has escaped. Rain started from the early afternoon of Christmas Eve, continued through the night and into Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

At about 1.30 yesterday afternoon, another hymac was seen heading towards the mouth of the channel.