Nonpareil resident Bennita Kissoon is frustrated that her yard is constantly flooded – not just when it rains, but because of an inconsiderate neighbour.
Kissoon’s yard is lower than her neighbour’s, which means water would run off from the higher land in any case. During the rainy season, the overflow from the neighbour’s yard results in Kissoon’s house being flooded for extended hours.
But even during the dry season her yard is swamped, she said, explaining that the situation is compounded by the fact that the neighbour’s roof overhangs on Kissoon’s property and the neighbour has failed to install gutters to catch the rain water from the roof. In addition, the neighbour allows domestic waste water from washing and other uses to simply flow over onto Kissoon’s land.
After raising the issue with the neighbour to no avail, Kissoon said, she made reports to the Neighborhood Democratic Council (NDC), the Regional Democratic Cou-ncil and the Environmental Protection Agency.
She said someone from the NDC visited and warned the neighbour to be considerate when disposing of water after doing laundry and to install gutters to catch the rain from the high roof. These warnings have not been heeded, Kissoon said.
When contacted NDC Chairman Randolph Blair said Kissoon’s yard is low and needs building up. Blair said the situation is “unavoidable” and he encouraged Kissoon to have her yard built up which will solve the problem.
However, the mother of four said there is a high cost attached to further filling her yard, which she is unable to meet at the moment. She said she is planning to fill the yard whenever she gets the money, adding that she had previously purchased two truckloads of earth to fill her yard.
She said that if the neighbours were considerate they would have put measures in place to avoid the situation.
“It really stressful to be walking in this nasty water and mud all the time… Is six years a dealing with this,” Kissoon lamented as she said that she does not know what next to do about the sickening situation.
On Saturday, the area around Kissoon’s pit latrine situated close behind her house was surrounded by water.
Kissoon said that apart from damage to her shoes, she is constantly battling with sanitation issues.
Stabroek News attempted to seek a comment from the neighbour. But when a child finally answered after several calls and was asked for his parents, he returned inside and subsequently responded that nobody was at home.
Kissoon, who had been captured by a Stabroek News photographer in February as she fetched water across the road from another neighbour, subsequently had potable water connected to her home through the benevolence of a local businessman.
