Georgetown : Following heavy rainfall that flooded the City of Georgetown on November 27, the Hydrometeorological Office came in for flak by the Government for failing to provide warnings in a timelier manner. The situation also exposed the APNU-led City Council’s poor preparedness for such an occurrence.
Government spokesman Dr. Roger Luncheon at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing y said that, “Hydromet failed us”. He called on irate taxpayers and residents of Georgetown to let the City Council report on their level preparedness for this short rainy season, particularly as it relates to drains, pumps and kokers.
Dr. Luncheon noted that while the City’s ability to discharge water from the land could at any time be exceeded by its accumulation, there are some obvious solutions that the Council has, to date, failed to implement.
“The drainage system in the City needs to be fixed. Desilting and ensuring access to canals whose reserves and borders have been left by the APNU-led City Council for squatting that have made South Georgetown a virtual lake during the flood periods must also be fixed,” he emphasised.
He added that there must be a commitment by any incoming City Council to work with residents of South Georgetown to address this issue; noting that there must be an increase in the mechanical drainage capacity.
“We need more pumps, bigger pumps to deal with these situations. With desilting of major canals, the improvement in gravity drainage can only be supported by fixing and maintaining the kokers that drain into the Demerara River,” the Cabinet Secretary contended.
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