The Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) and the Region Three Administration will be undertaking drainage improvements in Lust-en-Rust and parts of Parfait Harmonie, West Bank Demerara.
The Government Information Agency yesterday said that the project will tackle the two communities’ concerns about standing water in the yards of residents. This will be addressed by the excavation of the Canal Number One Polder, main drainage canal and the internal drains in Lust-en-Rust and sections of Parfait Harmonie.
Minister within the Ministry of Communities, with responsibility for Housing, Valerie Sharpe-Patterson, said the Region Three Administration, will embark on the interventions on the internal drains, beginning today. She said, according to GINA, that the CH&PA, with support from the NDIA will tackle the cleaning of the Canal Number One drainage canal.
Sharpe-Patterson, in the company of Chief Executive Officer, CH&PA, Myrna Pitt, CH&PA’s Engineers, Shaud Majeed and Omar Narine, and NDIA’s Engineer, Lall Pierahdave, visited the areas yesterday. The team said that late last week, several residents called the ministry with reports of flooding.
Following the initial reports, the Ministry sent a team of engineers to the areas, to determine the cause of the problem.
The residents’ perception, the Minister noted, was that the flooding was as a result of water being pumped in the direction of the communities, from a nearby rice field. The visit last week, and yesterday, however confirmed that the problem was that one of the internal drains was clogged and the Canal Number One drainage canal was full of weeds, the Minister said.
Following yesterday’s visit, Sharpe-Patterson made contact with the Region Three, Regional Executive Officer (REO) Denis Jaikarran and updated him on the situation. Consequently a meeting was held with all the officials including the CH&PA’s CEO, the Deputy Regional Executive Officer (DREO) and the engineers from CH&PA and NDIA. This resulted in consensus on providing emergency drainage intervention for the communities, Sharpe-Patterson said.
“It is urgent and it is necessary and important… none of us individually has the resources that are required to get the job done, so that is why we are taking this collaborative approach,” she told GINA.
