Floodwaters on Leguan, in Region Three, completely receded after koker doors were fixed and closed late on Friday night.
Amsterdam, Blenheim, Phoenix, Success and Thierens were flooded on Thursday after kokers were left open by farmers during the spring tide.
According to residents on the Island, the farmers received permission from the Neighbourhood Demo-cratic Council (NDC) to open the doors because their farmlands were in dire need of irrigation. However, the open kokers were left unsupervised and as a result, dozens of homes were flooded with water levels reaching two and a half feet high in some houses. Meanwhile, the force of the tide damaged the koker doors at Amsterdam, Phoenix and Success.
Regional Engineer Seenarine Nandram told Sunday Stabroek that after receiving reports of the flooding, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MOPI) contracted three construction companies to do emergency works on the three kokers on Friday night. He said that Khan’s Enterprise installed a new outer door at the Amsterdam koker, while R. Maraj and Company installed a new door at Success. S. Maraj Construction was contracted to fix the stop-log door at the Phoenix koker and will be commencing works on the outer door today.
At Blenheim, he said, persons removed the obstacles that were blocking the entrance of the koker, making the door unable to close, while at Thierens the koker door was closed when water started rushing in. He added that only a few house were flooded at that location.
Nandram further disclosed that by 7 pm on Friday, the floodwaters around Leguan began receding and by 9 pm that night after everything was fixed, the waters had completely subsided.
A resident of Blenheim, Jettoo (only name given) stated as much saying that all three kokers that were damaged were fully functional that very night. However, he said, wooden bridges close to the kokers sustained severe damage. While cleaning in the villages began early yesterday morning, Jettoo said the areas were still wet and slippery.
