A new door has been built for the Garden of Eden koker which was shattered last week and another koker on the East Bank has been identified as faulty.
Last Wednesday, the koker door broke under the pressure of the high tide and the Region Four Chairman accused the Agriculture Minister of usurping the functions of the region and central government was accused of not providing funding to rehabilitate/construct sluices as part of the 2010 capital works programme. The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) however fired back by saying that the region was culpable.
When Stabroek News visited the koker on Monday, the newly-constructed door which was tarred was on the side of the road. When this newspaper tried to enquire from the NDIA who was building the new door and when the works will be completed, the CEO was said to be in a meeting.
Meanwhile the overseer of the Good Success/Caledonia Neigh-bourhood Democratic Council (NDC), Raghunandan Singh in an invited comment noted that surrounding farmlands will not be significantly affected during high tide since there are enough canals to take off the volume of water.
However Singh stated that the Craig koker is leaking and it has only been three months since restoration works were done on the door.
A resident who lives near the koker pointed out that the dam along the side of the koker also leaks but Singh said this is because of careless burning of garbage by residents in the area.
The resident who lives next to the koker said that when the tide is high and the door is closed water can still be seen pouring through cracks in the door. Further, he pointed out, along the dam which is at the side of his house, water also seeps through. While it has not caused significant flooding, the resident said he is concerned, adding that the area needed weeding.
But according to Singh, the leaky dam around the koker is the fault of the residents in the area. While he acknowledged that the fenced dam is in a bad state, he noted that residents who burnt garbage around the area during the El Niño season aggravated the situation. Singh said that when they set fire around the revetment it contributes to erosion of the soil.
Residents, Singh said, were warned about burning and dumping around the area.
In the meantime, he said that the NDC has sought permission from the RDC to do work on the door. Singh said that plugging the creases with cotton and then tarring it over should stop the leaks and will hold for three to four years.
The Ministry of Works is supposed to begin works around the Craig koker sometime soon, Singh added. Works include rehabilitation of the revetment and putting dirt back on the dam, he explained.
And REO of the Region Four RDC, Ashford Ambedkar confirmed that the NDC had made a request for work on the koker. He said that at present the administration is working on providing estimates on the cost of the works to be done which will be followed by a quick tender procedure. This, he hoped, will be done as quickly as possible so that the koker could be repaired as the RDC is addressing the situation.
When the Garden of Eden koker broke, the chairman Clement Corlette had lashed out at the NDIA stating that it had informed them of the damage that was beyond the ability of the region to finance. However, Corlette said that a senior engineer of the NDIA had inspected the Garden of Eden koker “and found nothing wrong to warrant any repair works.” The Chief Executive Officer of the NDIA was apprised of the status of the koker, Corlette had said.
In the meantime, the NDIA had accused the region of a cover up instead of accepting its responsibility. And in response to the accusations levelled against it by the regional chairman, the NDIA said that it had acted in the interest of the farmers and residents since its mandate is to provide proper drainage and irrigation services “even if it meant usurping some of the functions of local government.”
