Boys will be boys but would Akeem Denny have drowned in the Guyana Water Incorporated’s Central Ruimveldt Iron Removal Treatment Plant’s “backwash lagoon” on Monday if the area, which the GWI deemed dangerous, had been properly secured? Yes there were warning signs and a fence, but no gate and no guards specifically designated to secure the site. Perhaps now, in the light of a loss of life, the site will be properly secured.

This newspaper also learned, subsequent to Monday’s tragedy that a concerned citizen had approached some seven private businesses in the area earlier in February with a request that they could as a public/private undertaking, work towards establishing a recreational facility in that same area. The citizen, not a resident of the area as this newspaper reported on Wednesday, took the initiative after seeing a news item on television about youths trespassing on the property in question and noting the danger attributed to the chemicals deposited in the lagoon. There had not been much of a response to the proposal, but perhaps now that a child has drowned the need for a recreational facility would be accentuated.

Akeem’s drowning was a replay of the tragic death of five-year-old Brianna Dover on July 17, 2006 in the GWI cesspool at Tucville.  The cesspool had been deemed dormant by GWI but was apparently still being used by some rogue contractors because GWI had claimed that it was too cash-strapped to cap it. Though the area was fenced, residents of a community in the immediate vicinity had reportedly breached the fence to use the area as a shortcut to get to their homes. On that hot July day, Brianna had slipped into the cesspool and was quickly covered by the sludge. And even though a heroic man had dived into the sewage and retrieved the child, she still perished.

Despite its initial nay-saying, after the tragedy GWI managed to secure the site. As an aside, last year GWI announced the start of a project with IBD funds to rehabilitate and reopen the sewerage station which would serve some 4,000 residents of the immediate area.

Reacting to events rather than preparing for them is a malaise that Guyana seems to be particularly prone to. A case in point is the development of massive housing schemes around the country with in some instances less than basic infrastructure and certainly in most cases no provision for parks and playfields. Housing is a priority of course, but a proper community comprises more than a group of people living in proximity and areas for recreation ought to be included.

A second example is the absolute refusal by the authorities to undertake the cleaning and clearing of canals during the dry season. One would imagine that this would be the ideal time for this kind of activity rather than what has been occurring in the past with canals being dredged while swollen with rainwater.

Because of the Guyana coast’s vulnerability to flooding its intricate system of drains and canals leading to rivers and the Atlantic Ocean and protected by a series of kokers/sluices, dams, and seawalls, need strict maintenance, but they have been allowed to fall into disrepair and disorder.

Hundreds of miles of drains and trenches in Georgetown, the capital, have been clogged for years now with either weeds or garbage. In several areas, builders have ignored or flouted the law and filled in or covered drains, causing stagnation. The result of all this was a massive flood in 2005, which saw huge damage in the housing and commercial sectors as well as loss of lives. While there is no doubt that the December 2004/January 2005 wet season saw excessive rainfall and would have caused flooding, its impact would have been much reduced if there had been effective maintenance of the drainage systems.

At the moment, the authorities appear to be preoccupied with El Nino, but surely some thought and effort could be spared for repairing and maintaining the coastal drainage system, lest we all drown in the next round of heavy rainfall. Or would that be a sign of proactivity and too much of a departure from the norm?