President visits flood hit Essequibo coast, assures residents that relief is in sight
Written by Gina Webmasters, Published in News, Georgetown, GINA, January 17, 2015, Source - GINA
Region Two Chairman Parmanand Persaud and President Donald Ramotar speaking with National Drainage and Irrigation Authority Head, Lionel Wordsworth and other officials at the Lima Outfall on the Essequibo Coast
Flooding along parts of the Essequibo coast, prompted Head of State President Donald Ramotar to visit several hard hit communities. Accompanied by Regional officials including Chairman, Parmanand Persaud and Drainage and Irrigation officials, the president had a firsthand look at outfalls in the communities of Devonshire Castle, Hampton Court, Lima, Anna Regina, Three Friends, Richmond, Reliance and Henrietta.
In addition to observing the measures being instituted to relieve the accumulation of water, the president was able to meet with residents many of whom voiced their concerns about the situation. President Ramotar instructed regional officials to keep him informed daily of the situation until it was rectified.
The fact that some seven inches of rainfall occurred along parts of the region, over the last two days exacerbated the situation, the president noted. “A lot of the problems have to do with the mud blocking up the outfalls, and constantly as you clear it the mud comes back in”.
Additional equipment is being put in place to remove the flood waters, he added, “We are sending in more dredges and more pumps so that we can have some relief from the situation as far as possible. The most important thing now is to try to get the water off the land”.
Region Two Chairman, Parmanand Persaud and President Donald Ramotar speaking with National Drainage and Irrigation Authority Head, Lionel Wordsworth and other officials at the Lima Outfall on the Essequibo Coast
He assured residents that officials are doing their best to bring relief to their plight, and empathised with them during this difficult time.
Head of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Lionel Wordsworth, said the heavy rains have resulted in flooding in agricultural and residential areas. A big effort now, he said, is to clear the outfalls and sluices to have effective gravity based drainage. “While that is happening, we also redeployed some pumps from the East Coast of Demerara and Georgetown to assist with the situation here”.
President Donald Ramotar speaking with officials and residents at an Outfall on the Essequibo Coast
The NDIA head said that, in addition to the aforementioned measures, a second dredge will be put into operation this evening.
The situation, he admitted, is a very challenging one for his team. “The accumulation along the outfalls is very frequent so it requires a constant effort to keep them clear so that the gravity drainage could be effective. Unless we can overcome these challenges, problems like these can surface sometimes”.
He added that 12 pumps are currently operating along the Essequibo coast, and two more will arrive from Georgetown and be pressed into service on Sunday.
President Donald Ramotar with officials and residents at an Outfall on the Essequibo Coast
