President finds pumps off, koker doors closed and worker asleep during late night inspection

President Irfaan Ali was shocked at the lackadaisical approach by some pump attendants when he assessed several drainage pumps in and outside of Georgetown on Sunday night.

During the late-night inspection, the Head of State discovered that the pumps at Riverview were off, the koker doors were closed and the worker was asleep.

“This is what we are talking about, I came out here myself to verify tonight. The main pump to drain the city is turned off.  Up to today, we said that the pumps need to be on 24 hours…While we have to deal with the heavy rainfall we have to deal decisively with the irresponsibility and negligence,” he said.

At Lombard Street, the President also questioned why the pump was not on.

Another stop was made at the Kitty pump station where two of the city’s most important pumps were not working. However, minutes after the Head of State arrived, one of the pumps was turned on.

Heavy rainfall on Saturday night left many parts of the city flooded and the President was adamant that all efforts should be made to get the water pumped out.

The President’s first stop was at Meadow Bank at around 22:00h, where he inspected the drainage pump that was on and interacted with the pump attendant.

The Head of State later visited the Central Georgetown drainage pump where he saw the pump attendant opening the koker door.

President Ali thanked him for his stellar work in helping the floodwaters to recede.

He then visited the Lamaha Street pumps in Kingston where both were working.

The journey continued on to the Liliendaal Pump Station where both pumps were also working. The pump attendant related that they had been running over the last 24 hours. He was commended by the President for his work and dedication.

After more than two hours of inspection, President Ali made his last stop at the Hope Canal pumping station, which was working at full power.

He underscored the importance of the project in taking excess water from the East Coast to the ocean.

“If this Canal was not here now, the East Coast would have been underwater.”

The Canal, which was completed in the latter part of 2013, is one of Guyana’s largest drainage projects.

President Ali was accompanied by Head of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority’s (NDIA) Board Lionel Wordsworth.