70 acres of rice lands, 25 families affected by collapsed koker in Essequibo

Approximately 70 acres of rice lands and twenty-five families living within the Andrew’s Better Success area in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) are affected after the sluice door at Andrew’s broke away.

The incident occurred at around 17:00hrs on Thursday.

The Region Two Administration along with the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) are currently on site trying to stop the flow of water, which is quickly gushing into residents’ yards and homes.

Region Two Vice Chairman Humace Oodit told the News Room that the sluice door was built under the previous government and it was not constructed to specifications.

The NDIA will now be constructing a steel door.

“The door built by the previous administration was a disaster waiting to happen and as such, we cater in our budget to built a steel door for the location,” Oodit said.

Several residents were forced to place sandbags in front of their houses to stop the flow of water while others had to move household items to higher grounds.

Rice farmers are very worried about the incident.