Wednesday night’s intense rainfall in Kwakwani, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) has caused severe damage to a recently rehabilitated culvert, thus resulting in several areas being inundated.
In addition, the road leading to Kwakwani Park has been partially eroded, and drains along the Airstrip Road, which were recently dug by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) in collaboration with the Kwakwani Neighbourhood Democratic Council (KNDC), are overtopping, and the water is streaming heavily across the ‘Gate Road’ into a nearby creek.
This creek leads to the Waterfront Road, the main thoroughfare to the waterfront, which is now inundated.
Vice Chairman of the NDC, Cort Simeon, on Thursday told this publication that if the heavy rainfall persists, the roadway along the Gate Road (the second main route to Waterfront and Lamp Island) would collapse.
The Vice Chairman has said that digging of the drains in the area back in April, and desilting of the nearby creek were in preparation for this rainy season. He added that the situation could have been worse if those measures had not been put into place.
As the situation intensifies, the KNDC has thus far identified a Government-owned property on the Kwakwani Staff Hill to house a small number of persons who are desirous of relocating. Relocation efforts would be ramped up if the situation worsens.
On Thursday, there were several inches of water in some communities, and several homes on Lamp Island were under water. The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) has recently deployed a team in the area to assist the affected residents.
