Central government is taking up the responsibility of solving drainage woes in Georgetown so that residents would be less affected by flooding, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo said on Wednesday.
According to Jagdeo, drainage in the capital city is the responsibility of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC). He, however, said the Council has not been doing a good job at this.
“We can’t rely on the City Council,” Jagdeo told Alexander Village residents during his community meeting with them on Wednesday.
So now the government is facilitating short-term and longer-term works to bring relief to residents in the city. Those works include building a new pump station at Liliendaal that is expected to help drain water out of the city; six new pumps are also being installed across the city.
Even so, residents complained bitterly about flooding in their communities. They asked that the drains be cleaned more frequently to allow water to readily flow.
Jagdeo assured them that drainage works would be done.
“We will try to clean the drains… we will talk to people about a drain cleaning programme,” he said.
He also said, “If there is anything that can be done in the short term, you work with us, we will do it now.”
Jagdeo, however, pointed out that there are some instances where people with concrete structures, such as bridges, have solid cast their structures, preventing the water from flowing too.
Because of its topography, Georgetown has long been challenged by heavy rainfall, particularly during the biannual rainy seasons experienced in Guyana as floodwater accumulated for much longer periods. The South Georgetown area is worse-affected because it has a basin-like topography.
Since last year, government officials have been meeting with residents to find ways of solving this problem.
