Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green says that in spite of severe financial limitations, the municipality is doing its best to deal with the problems posed by the recent heavy rainfall.
The mayor told this newspaper that workers from the municipality are busy clearing blockages and culverts around the city, and are ensuring that all the sluices and pumps are working.
According to him, all the sluices are functioning but there are a few concerns with some of the pumps. He identified the Kitty pump as one, which, although working, is experiencing some mechanical problems. Additionally, he pointed out that the lack of a back-up power supply for the three pumps at Liliendaal was another concern. He said that under the current set up, if there is a blackout the pumps cannot work. The shortage of fuel for the pumps, owing to the unavailability of funds to purchase same was another major issue, the mayor said.
However, he insisted that the workers are doing their best, given the circumstances. He said if the money were available, City Hall would change about 40 culverts in the city and clear all the canals around the city.
Further, Green said, the city continues to be hampered by the indiscipline of its citizens who continue to dump garbage indiscriminately and added that this was one of the major contributors to extensive flooding in the city. He called on all citizens to be responsible in their disposal of garbage.
Green said the municipality is about to embrace a new method in an attempt to stem aquatic growth in the various canals around the city. He said a student from the University of Guyana had suggested a way to reduce the growth rate of aquatic vegetation. Green said that very often within weeks of being cleaned, canals would appear as though they needed to be cleared again. Despite its best efforts, the municipality was not able to control this and as such welcomed the new initiative, the mayor said. He did not elaborate on what the new technique was.
