Several pumps are to be deployed along the East Bank Demerara corridor to help with the drainage of communities experiencing flooding as a result of heavy rainfall within the last 24 hours.
Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha on Saturday visited several communities including Peter’s Hall, Providence, Diamond, and Grove Housing Scheme.
These communities are experiencing flooding, which has been intensified by continuous high tides that are making the drainage sluices inoperable.
Minister Mustapha told DPI, “What we have discovered is that there are a number of areas that we have to clear up… and with the high intensity of rainfall the water has accumulated and the [window for drainage with] the tide is very short because we are in the ‘neap season’ [ocean gravitational pull] now, which means we only have about three hours of drainage time [when the tide is low].”
Moreover, as minister Mustapha visited each community, he was empathetic to the many residents namely the farmers and small business owners.
He told residents that interventions are being coordinated in the shortest possible time to bring relief.
“I am hoping by the end of the ‘neap tide’ season that most of the water will recede, while we will be mobilising and deploying more pumps into areas, to help with drainage where it is proving to be difficult due to the high tides, to complement the drainage systems that are in place,” the minister told residents.
Minister Mustapha explained that in his conversations, many of the affected residents shared with him that this is the first time they are experiencing such high levels of water within their areas.
The agriculture minister also visited the sluices and pumps in the area to ensure that all were operating at maximum levels.
He was joined by Chief Executive Officer of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority Lionel Wordsworth, Regional Executive members, the local Neighbourhood Democratic Council members and others.
