While the Government has announced that resources have been directed to bring relief to the residents, the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) has launched a ‘Donation drive’ to support residents affected by flooding in several Region Eight Communities.
The communities of Chenapou, Waipa, Kaibarupai, Sand Hill and Itabac have been severely affected by flooding over the past few days.
It has noted that in the case of Waipa Village, the scale of damage is so immense that most of its 329 have been forced to take refuge in the village community center as their houses are completely under water.
“The entire village has been affected and residents are residents without food and water. A similar situation has been reported for Sand Hill, a satellite of Waipa, where its 110 resident have been forced to also take refuge in a single building as no home has been left unaffected. Residents are imploring for the arrival of quick relief of food supplies and drinking water,” the Association said in a statement on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, as of Thursday, there has been no contact with Kaibarupai. Up to late afternoon, the Village was fearful that their means of communication would be submerged and as such has been unable to provide the organisation without any further updates since. Also, efforts to contact Itabac residents have proven futile.
According to Toshao of Chenapou, Edward Mc Garrell, approximately 95 percent of his village has been affected in some way or the other. “All trails in the village have been flooded, 15 houses are almost submerged and one home was washed away. In addition, the primary and nursery schools had been closed and parents had been asked to keep their children at home,” he said.
The APA was able to dispatch supplies to the communities of Waipa, Sand hill and Kaibarupai on Friday (May 19, 2017). It has expressed gratitude to persons who would have contributed or pledged support.
Additional supplies will be sent on Sunday (May 21, 2017) and Guyanese are being encouraged to support in cash or kind. These include donations in cash or kind of food supplies (for adult and children), water, clothing, torchlights, batteries, water purifying tablets and toiletries among other vital supplies.
The APA will continue to provide updates on our website and social media platforms. Persons are asked to contact the organisation’s office numbers on: (592) 227-0275 or (592) 223-8150 or our personnel Michael Mc Garrell at (592) 673-7480, Laura George at (592) 697-3093 and Jean La Rose at (592) 624-2992.
