Ignoring of building code worsening flooding – Sankies

The failure by the relevant authorities to aggressively implement the national building code may have exacerbated flooding in communities such as Grove/Diamond, the Chairman of the National Building Code Committee Melvyn Sankies believes.

The wooden boards which allow customers access to Anita’s shop in this flooded yard.

During a telephone interview with this newspaper yesterday, Sankies lamented that despite the presence of a national building code, there has not been the aggressive implementation that is required. He said that this had been ignored even in the recent development of new housing schemes.  Asked specifically about the Grove/Diamond area, Sankies said that several buildings in the community were not built according to the standards. According to him, some years ago he and several other experienced engineers had been invited to scrutinize the buildings in the community, and subsequently found that adherence to the buildings codes was not the norm.  He said that this included the construction of adequate drainage.

Several houses in the Grove/Diamond area have been under water since late last week following flash flooding in the community.  Yesterday several yards in the community remained inundated despite the efforts by the Ministry of Agriculture to drain the water off the land.

On Monday Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud opined that the community had outgrown its existing drainage facilities. “Ultimately the scheme has outgrown its drainage,” the minister said.  According to Persaud while the community has grown about 200 to 300 per cent, the drainage has not grown at a similar rate. He said that currently the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) is collaborating with the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) to develop a long-term plan.

Regarding drainage, Sankies said that houses needed to have drainage facilities which are built according to proper standards.  While some persons balk at the expenses connected with proper drainage, Sankies said that investing in such facilities first up would prove to be cheaper in the long run. He said that if the drainage wasn’t adequate to begin with, property owners would eventually be forced to invest in better facilities later on.

He pointed to the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti, where he noted that the failure to subscribe to a building code caused a massive loss in infrastructure. He contrasted this with the earthquake in Chile which did not result in such massive infrastructural losses due to the presence of a strictly followed building code.

Locally, 10 sections of a Building Code have been completed. According to the recent newsletter by the Guyana Association of Professional Engineers, sections in enforcement, fire safety, use and occupancy, electrical, plumbing, use of Guyanese hardwoods in construction, concrete and block masonry, structural steel, high rise buildings, foundations and excavations and a code of practice for the design and construction of septic tanks and associated secondary treatment and disposal systems, have been completed.

Meanwhile, when this newspaper visited the Grove/Diamond Community yesterday, some residents complained that the water levels had not dropped from the previous days. Ronald and June Hamilton, who live at Lot Y Section C Grove Housing Scheme, told this newspaper that the situation is extremely frustrating.   They said that the water was not coming off the land and expressed concern that continuous rain would only make their situation worse.

Ronald Hamilton expressed his frustration at the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) for its failure to be proactive and to adequately address the needs of the community. He said that while he pays rates to this body consistently, the service that is offered is not up to standard.

Another Grove resident, who only gave her name as Anita, told this newspaper that while the water had gone down from the level on Saturday, over the last few days it has not dropped significantly.  She said that several factors contributed to flooding in the community, but particularly singled out persons who owned land in the community, but who did nothing to clear or maintain their property, thereby affecting drainage.

Meantime, the woman, who operates a shop in the area, said that the accumulated water has already negatively impacted her business.  She said that on Saturday she had to close her shop completely. The businesswoman has since set up planks to allow customers to have access to her shop. However, because of the presence of water in her yard, she has had to shorten her business hours.

The Ministry of Agriculture has deployed an excavator and a mobile pump to assist in drainage. Yesterday Minister Persaud and Chief Executive Office of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority Lionel Wordsworth and Chief Hydromet Officer Bhaleka Seulall and other officials from the ministry inspected the East Demerara Water Conservancy at Land of Canaan.

During the trip, Persaud said that all the drainage structures in the area were functioning but that the onus was on the persons operating them to ensure that they were opened and closed at the correct time.