Dear Editor,

The seawall at Aurora village on the Essequibo Coast is in such a condition, that residents living within that vulnerable area are expecting the total collapse of the remains of the structure to happen any time soon.

I was born and grew up about two hundred yards away from that seawall, which was constructed around 1967 and it has certainly stood the test of time, but with the passing of time and the constant banging of the sea, the foundation on which this wall was built has washed away rapidly, and large cracks appeared, in addition to which from that time to now no extensive or proper maintenance work was done. The question is not if the wall will fall apart, but when.

The maintenance crew is working to patch or quick-fix this problem, but this type of work is not what this situation needs. When the serious erosion began to happen – and that was about six years ago – the Neighbourhood Democratic Council and the Regional Democratic Council were informed, but the problem was not given the attention required.

I, as a member of the Regional Works Committee, a Statutory Committee of the RDC, raised this issue at the statutory meeting years ago; I also spoke to the sea defence engineer on numerous occasions in relation to this seepage and overtopping, but all that they would say is that sea defence works of that magnitude have to be addressed by central government and not by the RDC, and that they are looking at same and that the contract for massive works to be done will be awarded shortly. Well we the residents numbering about two hundred, who will suffer tremendously from the level of flooding when this wall finally collapses, have been hearing about this contract and similar reasons why no major repairs were done for years now.

This was told to us by different people at different places and times. We are hoping that the worst will not happen, but when it does we will not be surprised.

Yours faithfully,
Archie W Cordis