Georgetown: Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson, following his inspection of several key drainage structures in the city on Monday, has deemed the neglect of the pumps and outfalls as criminal.
“There is one stage beyond neglect. I recognise it is criminal, the amount of money we have lost, the man hours, the agriculture… it is almost criminal to neglect them to that extent that it would affect the citizenry of Georgetown,” he said.
Following the recent downpour and subsequent flooding in the city, Government Ministers have been visiting and assessing the city’s drainage. This assessment has revealed the shocking state of the drainage system, including the fact that several of the city’s pumps have been down for a while and that the outfall sluices are heavily silted.
At a press conference held at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Chief Engineer (acting) Ron Eastman explained that six pumps have been down for in excess of one year for reasons including mechanical, to facilitate repairs to the discharge pipes and for engine related issues.
Meanwhile Mayor Hamilton Green, who was also present, observed that while there is a maintenance programme, “there is nothing to blame the City Council for, they just did not have funds. He explained that whilst “the neglect in the city has been criminal…to achieve the integrity of any system, money and management are needed which we have not had for several years.”
Mayor Green added that with the Minister’s assurance, and with the cooperation of the Mayor, municipality and the business sector, work will be done.
The Ministry is currently, with support from the National Drainage Irrigation Authority (NDIA) working on the short- term basis to alleviate the flooding by bringing into operation several of the city’s pumps that were reported as being down. The Ministry too has identified four outfalls for de-silting: Kingston, Lamaha, Sussex and Meadow Bank South. The cost of this intervention is expected to be arrived at soon and promised that he will immediately move to get Cabinet’s approval for the release of these funds.
Minister Patterson is hopeful that this funding will come out of the Ministry of Finance, but also pointed to the Minister of Finance’s recent report that he still cannot ascertain what is available in the country’s treasury as the monies under the previous administration were diverted to several budgetary accounts.
At present sourcing funds directly from the Ministries of Infrastructure or Agriculture, for the interventions cannot be done. They are hamstrung by the one-twelfth of current expenditure restriction on both of the ministries, due to not having a budget, the Minister said.
Barring another downpour, Minister Patterson advised that it was expected that the water will abate and that earlier interventions put in place by the Ministry to assist with removing the water from the land were expected to be boosted with the operation of all six of the city’s pumps by last evening.
The pumps at Sussex Street, Riverview, JP Santos and at Lamaha Street, on checks, were found to be down on Monday. The Sussex Street pump is up, and with support from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA). The Lamaha Street pump will be functional by 6pm today.
In addition to the Force Account Unit (FAC) of the Ministry, and in collaboration with the NDIA, the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is expected to immediately start de-silting of the Cummings Street Canal. “This we felt is required to increase the inflow to drain the water off effectively,” Minister Patterson explained.
The series of interventions is expected to see support from the Ministry of Communities, as Minister Patterson has indicated that he will seek the assistance of the Georgetown Clean-up crew, to complement the M&CC’s efforts to tackle a number of blockages that have been reported. “People have been ringing into the City Council saying that even though the water has been discharging, there are parts of the drainage networks that are blocked, because people have put in sand or debris or fallen trees and these have been retarding the rate at which we can drain the city,” he explained.
He said that with these interventions, he expects that the city will soon be drained.
Mayor Green pointed out that blockages in parts of the city were caused by new buildings being put up and persons who have grown accustomed to throwing sand in drains. The Mayor observed that whilst the municipality is important, businesses would have to obey the law or pay the penalty. The Mayor pointed out that in the interest of the citizens and their health “we cannot tolerate this.” Mayor Green emphasised that no businessman is immune from the arrangement.
Minister Patterson also reported that a special task force will be put in place to look at the city’s drainage in a holistic manner. He noted that “the Georgetown Water and Sewerage Master Plans are in place, and that “there is no need to reinvent the wheel. We will dust off all the reports and invite stakeholders to get a plan up and running. This task force is not an additional one, and it should be easily effected,” the Minister stated.
You must be logged in to post a comment.