By Cathy Richards
The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) is to commence emergency works in several areas across Linden following intense rainfall that caused flooding and erosion.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud rushed to Linden yesterday following reports of severe flooding in a number of communities, including Silver City, Block 22, sections of Central Mackenzie, Coomacka and Victory Valley.
Hardest hit by the torrential rains yesterday was Silver City where Persaud had a first-hand look.
In an interview with Stabroek News following the walkabout, Persaud said that it is necessary to have corrective works done in identified areas at Mackenzie and Wismar beginning today.
“Upon hearing of the heavy downpours I spoke with the regional chairman and the NDIA staff and we decided to come here and see what additional work we can do or what works we had planned to kick forward and we have agreed on several interventions based on the recommendation by residents, the Regional Chairman and also the NDIA staff in this particular community and others too. You would see immediately sometime this evening or tomorrow morning some works kicking in,” said the Agriculture Minister, who has responsibility for drainage and irrigation.
During a first-hand look at the situation it was disclosed that several drains in the Silver City and Victory Valley areas had been clogged for more than twenty years.
In addition, it was noted that the topography of Silver City and its layout made it susceptible to erosion, especially during heavy rains when the top soil gets washed down and clogs the drains.
The intensity of the erosion was visible and several homes in the area had sunk to the extent that their windows were almost level with the roadway.
”So we now have to move from being in a maintenance mode to a more long-term fixing and rehabilitation mode,” Persaud noted, adding that some of the houses are structurally in danger and would require serious engineering.
The situation is so intense in some cases that relocation may be the only solution and for others restoration or some control measures are necessary.
The situation at Block 22, residents said, calls for some emergency interventions. They complained that several yards are constantly flooded whenever there is a medium to heavy downpour.
“The problems start when the water runs off from Wisroc over to Block 22. We can’t even think about going into our yards because it is usually so bad,” one resident said.
Others complained about their fear for their children’s health because of the large amount of garbage that would wash into their yards.
“We are so tired of this we talk to the Regional Chairman so often about this but yet we ain’t getting no help,” a resident said.
Regional Chairman Mortimer Mingo was a key member of the team that visited several flood-hit areas both at Wismar and Mackenzie.
Speaking about the situation at Coomacka, Mingo said that some immediate measures would be necessary to arrest serious flooding and erosion there.
He noted that there were monies allocated through the NDIA for works in the area but due to the severity of the existing situation it would be necessary for those projects to be fast-tracked.
Unusual flooding
Flood waters yesterday reached unprecedented levels according to business owners in the central areas.
“For the greater part of today things were at a standstill out here. I have been in this area for many years now and have never seen anything like this. Even the rats, roaches and centipedes were competing with humans for a dry place that alone can tell you what went on,” explained one entrepreneur.
Referring to the Mackenzie/Greenheart Street flooding, Mingo said that a collapsed culvert in the area was responsible and plans are in train to have the situation rectified. “We have to work closely with the NDIA to have these problems worked on because there is no budgetary allocation to the region to facilitate these works,” said Mingo.
At the level of the Central Government there is a budget of approximately $75M earmarked for Region 10.
Although Wismar, Linden is not a part of the NDIA’s original programme it was brought in through the Ministry of Agriculture and has been gradually receiving increasing allocations. According to Persaud it was recognized that the Community Drainage and Irrigation programme (CDNI) in Linden needs to be improved in terms of doing the maintenance works.
And to facilitate this process a new coordinator was recently appointed. Additionally there are concerns about the quality of work being done by the Community Development Councils (CDC) and Persaud said he would be looking at changing the existing arrangements from a contract to an ongoing basis.
