By Jomo Paul
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Four out of the six drainage pumps strategically situated throughout Georgetown and the rest of the coast to aid in the delivery of water from the land were out of commission for more than twelve months, according to officials from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
It was revealed recently that only two of the pumps were in working condition and able to pump water off the land – this was after there were high levels of rainfall that inundated the capital city.
Acting Chief Engineer, Rawle Eastman when probed by reporters at a press conference on Monday, June 01 explained that the irrigation systems have not been properly working for over the specified period due to some menial damages.
Eastman explained that there were issues relating to some pipes that had to be repaired and replaced among other maintenance issues. He noted that the main reason for the systems being allowed to proceed into a state of decay is lack of funding.
This is despite monies being made available in the yearly budget for the upkeep of Guyana’s drainage and irrigation systems given its importance when considering that the coast of Guyana is below sea level.
“We had a number of mechanical matters which include some of the discharge pipes had to be repaired and some minor engine matter…I cannot give a period as to how long they were not working but I can say that it was over a year or so,” said Eastman.
Meanwhile, Public Infrastructure Minister, David Patterson told reporters that there is wanton need for repairs across the board for the drainage systems, explaining that the neglect is “criminal.”
Patterson further indicated that with the expected rainfall levels and current systems being put in place, it is expected that the land would be drained of the water pointing out that almost all of the pumps should be operational by 18:00hrs on Tuesday June 02
Follow the money to see where it went. Certainly NOT THE GEORGETOWN CITY COUNCIL!! I don’t think though that the maintenance of these pumps fell under the purview of the City Council. It was the NDIA or whatever your comrades put it under
Green wasn’t the one who stopped/restricted the funds the city council needed to do its work!! It was your beloved cuss down xpresident and the sole reason was a racist one.
The previous PPP/C government,wickedly starved the Mayor & City Council of the necessary FUNDS to assist in having works properly done,even their TAXES that were due,used to be paid in LATE to the M&CC,just to STYMIE and SABOTAGE their operations.They must be held accountable and responsible for the FLOODING that took place under their watch.
The Guyanese population alone cannot keep the country moving like it should Guyana needs tourism foreigners visiting the country also Guyanese citizens living abroad would love to come to their country of birth on a regular basis but not when the country smells like a cracked tomb just not encouraging people come to Guyana they get robbed murdered etc just hope this new admin would continue on what they’ve started
Goodluck
And when we had a criminal bunch like the PPPee who rape this nation of every penny they touch, they make hammy look like the pope. 1 billion ( stolen) ( missing) and the pumps still not working,the city look just like lunchman,and smell like kwami, you criminals should not blog anymore, you ppl are staring everyday in the news, crime and more crime,,,
when you have mayor like HAMILTON GREEN can you expect anything better ,he was in the BURNHAM administration
I wondered who had the majority of seats in the government for the previous administration, and who were slashing funding from left to right, and now the blame is squarely on the PPP government. “Eastman explained that there were issues relating to some pipes that had to be repaired and replaced among other maintenance issues. He noted that the main reason for the systems being allowed to proceed into a state of decay is lack of funding.
This is despite monies being made available in the yearly budget for the upkeep of Guyana’s drainage and irrigation systems given its importance when considering that the coast of Guyana is below sea level.”
The acting Chief Engineer says the despite money being allocated in the 2014 Budget for repairs to defective pumps and broken pipes, the repairs were not done, thereby contributing to the flood condition.
An inquiry should be done immediately to ascertain where that money is, and if it was spent on another item, then that is illegal and the person who approved or spent the money must be criminally indicted. If you have six pumps and only two are working, it is like having a six cylinder car and only two cylinders are working. You are not driving!
Along with regular cleaning of drains, there are two economically viable options that can be adopted. 1. Increase storage capacity for rainfall during high tide. The initial cost of this option will be relatively low compared to the recurring maintenance cost. 2. Install and properly maintain mechanical discharge pumps at strategic locations. The Initial cost of this option is opposite that of option 1
The PPP government was never interested in properly draining and beautifying Georgetown because the city was always considered PNC controlled. They only took the opportunity to jump in at strategic moments when situations of political mileage and/or “pocket lining” presented itself.