Cummings Lodge residents hail Clean-up Exercise
Written by Gina Webmasters, Published in News, Georgetown, GINA, October 10, 2015, Source
Residents of Old Road, Ugandi Park and GEC Scheme, Cummings Lodge, have welcomed the desilting of drainage channels in their area.
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure’s National Taskforce for the effective functioning of Guyana’s drainage and irrigation system is at present in the area, clearing several internal drainage channels.
When the Government Information Agency (GINA) visited the area this morning, the Ministry’s excavators were seen desilting the Old Road Canals. Residents who came out to witness the exercise were thankful to the relevant authorities for embarking on the exercise, which will minimise flooding in the area during the rainy season.
“What is happening here today, is long overdue, because as soon as it rains, we are under water,” a resident of the GEC Scheme, Ugandi Park area, Sylvester Shim told GINA. Shim, who has been living the area for the past 26 years, said the community is very thankful, and has already resolved to play its part by working to set up a committee to guide the maintenance of the drainage.
Ronald Persaud, who has been a resident in the area for 22 years, noted that the drainage channel had not been cleared for about 13 years. “Since 2002, they dig here slightly. We had no drainage, no road in this area. We were left abandon for the past 13 years.” “Now that we have a change of government, I am hoping that things can change, for the better, for the people of this community,” he added.
Community Coordinator for the Drainage and Cleanup exercise for the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Neilson McKenzie explained that desilting is being done initially at the request of residents. He said, however, bringing relief to the area ties into the overall work plan, of improving the drainage of Georgetown. “This is on the extreme boundary of Georgetown, and this is one of the key areas in support of what the Mayor and City Council is doing, and the more overall plan for drainage and desilting in Georgetown to alleviate the issue of flooding,” he explained.
He told GINA that the kind of intervention being done in Cummings Lodge is to ensure that all the surrounding canals are significantly desilted, so that the community and surrounding areas are better off in terms of flooding during the rainy season.
In addition to cleaning the Old Road Canal and the internal drains, the Task Force will also be doing some remedial works on Old Road itself. McKenzie explained that the aim is to clean straight up to the 40- foot access canal, which leads into Liliendaal. This access canal drains all of the communities in the area, including Industry, Bel Air and Cummings lodge. This canal is being cleaned by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
“What we are attempting to do is to recreate the network of drainage, so that the level of adequacy could be improved, and to ensure that water moves smoothly without major restriction into that main canal,” McKenzie explained.
