By Readawne Henery
Residents of Dantzig, Mahaicony are once again experiencing flooding resulting from a combination of breached sea defences and high tides.
At a virtual press conference held yesterday, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill said that the flooding was as a result of another 100 meters of the sea defences being breached.
“As of yesterday morning [Tuesday], there was an additional breach in the very same area of more than 100 meters.” He stated that the breach combined with the high tide caused flooding in the area which resulted in a number of residents being severely affected.
As a result, he said, a discussion was held with his Permanent Secretary and other technical personnel to arrange for emergency works to be done in that particular area and to ensure that financing is available outside of the impending budget so that it can be utilised to bring relief to persons living in the affected community. He added that he have already approved the monies for the emergency works.
Regarding the finances for this project, he noted that BK International has a contract to do work in a section of the 5 km sea defence breach and even though the company was paid over $100 million in advance, the remaining amount from the $353 million is still intact. Hence, those funds will be used to deal with the new 100-meter breach. He says that they have estimated the cost of the repairs at $145 million based on the figures they were provided with.
Edghill noted that considering the way the sea defences are situated, it is impossible to contract a company that is not currently working on the sea defences to work on the 100-meter breach. As such he has given instructions to the relevant officials for the contractors that are currently working in the area to attend to the breach so that much needed relief can be brought to the people of Mahaicony and surrounding areas.
Minister within the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar added that considering that the breach is close to where BK International and A&S construction are currently working, those companies are the ones that they will likely engage. He stressed that the time they take to act is critical, saying that in a couple of days, the 100- metre breach can expand to 200 or 300 meters.
Escalation
“So to stop the escalation, the speed to react is critical so that is why it was justified to have the contractors closest to the breach, which is walking distance to where they are working and they already have the stones there so it is the best or fastest option at least to stop the flow of water from coming inland and [because of] residents’ farmlands and households that is why we made that decision,” he said.
He added, “There are a number of places that we have that are risky areas but the most important is the Mahaicony region where the breach started out very small and if you don’t react quickly to a breach, it ends up escalating and costing more and we responded quickly yesterday [Tuesday] in dealing with that.”
Regional Chairman, Vickchand Ramphal, said that due to the breach at Content, also in Mahaicony, there are currently eight households that are affected.
With water rushing in, pasture lands have also flooded and the water has managed to make its way into the yards and homes of some residents.
On a regional level, he said, the plan is to organise a team to engage in the distribution of cleaning supplies to persons affected, and at the same time continue to monitor the situation.
He further related that the government is currently engaged in the matter and that the Ministry of Agriculture had offered its full support.
He said the high tide is expected to last for the next few days.
Outside
Jermaine Braithwaite, Project Manager at the Ministry’s River and Sea Defence Department, during an interview with Stabroek News, explained that the new section highlighted as a concern, was actually outside of the 500 meters that was to be done under the current contract.
Braithwaite said it was an extensive stretch of shore line that was affected by the natural erosion and loss of mangrove. He explained, that even with them engaging contractors to do work in defined sections, additional areas west of those sections have problems, where they are becoming exposed and opening up. He said that the Minister will be taking urgent steps, and has engaged in discussions on the way forward in dealing with the situation. He added that some measures were already put in place as they continue to address budgetary issues.
Donna Alphonso, a resident of Dantzig who was affected by the flood, told this newspaper that her livelihood was severely under threat. With water inside and outside of her home, she suffered water damage to textbooks and other items inside of her home, while some materials purchased for construction were affected despite her best efforts to build a barrier to prevent the water from entering.
The frustrated resident said she was not expecting so much water from the flood and lamented that it was much more than she could bear.
Nucella Gonsalves, another resident affected by the flood, told this newspaper that she was affected “a lot.”
She explained that with the water coming in, it was all the way to the front of her yard where her shop is located. Her bottom flat and fowl pen were also affected by the flooding.
While showing this newspaper some of the gardening produce lost, she also mentioned the effects of the floodwater getting into the potable water lines resulting in a discoloured look, that in the past caused rashes about the body.
Neil Machado, who also resides in the area said about three weeks ago the breach worsened.
Machado said that it was a frustrating situation since Dantzig has been affected by flooding since last year. He believes that the problems exist due to the back and forth movements of the contractors, without first completing the work. He too shared that he had lost a lot due to the flooding in the area.
Several residents also accused the authorities of neglecting the village, as they complained of not receiving any of the relief hampers that were distributed. They stated, that they too, like all others, are affected by COVID-19.
Previously, Stabroek News had reported that Indar, had bemoaned delays in sealing breaches along the Mahaicony shoreline which BK International claims is partly due to a defect in the design provided to the company.
Indar told this newspaper that BK International should have recognised the urgent need for works to be done and begun mobilising the necessary materials and resources for its project at Content, Mahaicony.
