Residents in low-lying areas in Region Ten were yesterday urged to evacuate as the rain continues to pour, fuelling flooding.
A statement from Mark Goring, the Regional Vice-Chairman of Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice) yesterday warned that due to the rise in water Sub Region 2 and Region 10 are prone to flooding. He said, “This notice serves as an urgent advisory regarding the current and impending flood conditions affecting our area. Due to continuous heavy rainfall, there has been a significant rise in water levels, and several areas within Sub Region 2 and Region 10 are at risk of flooding.”
According to the statement, key areas affected include Kwakwani Water Front, Lamp Island, Jeep Landing and other villages along the Berbice River.
As such immediate actions recommended include the evacuation of residents within the low-lying areas. “Residents in low-lying and flood-prone areas are strongly advised to evacuate to higher ground immediately. Please prioritize the safety of yourself and your family.”
For safety precautions, the statement said “avoid walking or driving through floodwaters, as they may be deeper and more dangerous than they appear, ensure that all electrical appliances are unplugged and moved to higher levels to prevent electrical hazards, prepare an emergency kit that includes essentials such as water, non-perishable food, medications, a flashlight, batteries, and important documents, boil water before drinking to prevent waterborne diseases, use mosquito repellents and nets to protect against mosquito-borne illnesses, stay informed.”
The statement said that the regional administration is closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates as necessary. “Our emergency response teams are on standby and ready to assist those in need. Stay safe and take all necessary precautions,”
Meanwhile, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) this week said that some 400 sanitization packages were being distributed to persons in Region Ten who are affected by flooding as a result of the severe rainfall.
According to them, the packages were provided by the Office of the Prime Minister and consisted of cleaning agents. “Resi-dents will also receive food hampers as part of the Government’s flood relief efforts.”
The CDC on Thursday had reported that over 300 Region 10 households have been affected by rain-fuelled flooding, and Linden Mayor Sharma Solomon said that every constituency was affected.
Solomon in a video posted to his Facebook page stressed that residents are in need of compensation as they have suffered massive losses.
He had said that they are compiling data as to the losses residents have suffered while some persons were in need of shelter. Additionally, he said that they had distributed hampers and in some instances “cash in hand”.
“At this moment we are saying like every other community when they have a disaster we see the President, we see all these ministers by now they should have been here but not only to come but to come with those resources, those resources that through their negligence that they must now give compensation to people who suffered losses, all material losses, whether electronic, animal, furnishing should be given back and should be compensated”, he asserted.
He said that it was important to understand that outside of the works being carried out by the CDC and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), the PPP/C as a government has not provided the “resources and the request made by the council. The council as I said earlier made these request for town week exercise and we weren’t given these resources…”
Solomon said that in April they had requested support from the government to clean various areas however this was not provided.
According to Solomon, if the Linden Town week clean-up exercise was supported by the government then the communities would have been cleaned up, instead he said that into the rainy season, the government opted for a flag-raising exercise where “they invested $77m in the community on infrastructural works, on a whole lot of drainage and clearing but I can tell you this that meant absolutely nothing because at one hour of rain the flooding started and at one night of rain we are still witnessing these sorts of devastation.”
He continued, “However they went about a cleaning exercise into the rainy season for over $77m that not only proved ineffective but it also is responsible for some of the current situation that we see.”
According to Solomon, the entire Kara Kara to Retrieve area is flooded as several of the creeks have not been cleared and are incomplete. “Outside of those areas where they refused to invest that $77m, the areas where they placed that money for example at the back of sports club its rapidly eroding.”
Work together
On Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Phillips visited flood-affected areas of Linden to assess the emergency response efforts following heavy rainfall in Region and proposed that all parties work together to enhance the lives of Lindeners.
The Prime Minister, joined by the Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, conducted site visits to affected communities such as Fairs Rust, Watooka, Kara Kara, Victory Valley, Bucktown, and Noitgedacht.
After his assessment, he called for the local municipality and regional bodies to properly maintain the drainage infrastructure.
“Drainage and irrigation in a place like Linden are a public good and a public service that must be provided for all of the people,” he added while stating that, “The RDC and the Mayor and City Council failed the people of Linden on this one. We here at Central Government are intervening and we want to work with the Regional Democratic Council and Mayor and Town Council to ensure that we fix this once and for all.”
The Prime Minister said that Central Government officials had observed this issue during a recent visit, prompting a clean-up of drains in central Mackenzie for the 58th Independence Anni-versary Flag Raising Ceremony last Saturday.
He stressed that all levels of government, from local municipalities to regional bodies and the central administration, must work collaboratively to enhance the region’s disaster preparedness and response capabilities.
“What we need in Region 10 is to stop the blame game and get to work”, he said.
He also urged residents to take responsibility by properly disposing of garbage and cleaning drains near their properties. However, he emphasised that elected local officials must be held accountable for neglecting routine drainage maintenance that could have mitigated the flooding impacts.
According to Edghill, Bosai deployed two hydraulic excavators to assist with de-bushing and materials to construct a temporary cofferdam to aid in the diversion and removal of floodwaters etc.
Meanwhile, over in Region Six where there has been flooding in several parts of Black Bush Polder (BBP) the Regional Vice Chairman, Zamal Hussain on his social media noted that pumps were working at several locations to assist the situation.
He added, that a mobile pump was also set up at Lesbeholden, BBP while several of the channels were being cleared.
