Is fixing the Linden drainage problems rocket science?

Dear Editor,

Thursday, May 3 gone there was a prolonged and torrential downpour  in Linden that once again caused a flood.  Definitely, it was not the first and will not be the last, for none of us dare dictate to mother nature.

Heavy rains have been with us since time immemorial, and the residents of the town of Linden can attest to many such experiences as a consequence – of gutters overflowing and streets/roads being flooded.  However, the difference is that during the days of Mackenzie and in the early years of Linden – which superseded the name Mackenzie – prolonged heavy downpours were heaven sent to most of us boys then, since the entire landscape was transformed into an aquatic playfield.  We longed for it, since it provided a special form of entertainment for us.

Not only did we have fun bathing in the rain, but once the gutters, streets and playfield were flooded, it stimulated us, and provided the energy and excitement for various kinds of water sports.  We instantly became creative; all sorts of sailing vessels were made, using as our track the gutters of crystal clear water to propel them; we played football in the streets and fields using plastic footballs; we played water war and other athletics to the delight of parents, elders and everyone else, who looked on from their homes or shelter without the least thought or fear of us being infected by dirty gutter water. But rest assured that within half an hour after the rain ceased you could see that the roads/fields and the water in the drains, though still high, was moving at a rapid rate as if behind time, and that’s when the excitement in boat-racing was most hyped.

Editor, I mentioned all the above for us to get the picture of the quality and effectiveness of our drainage system then: main drains, culverts and access drains were all an intricate, interlocking combination that kept the community healthy and smart looking, and prevented roads from constantly deteriorating.

Today the situation is crazy, lousy, scandalous and far from the above, thus it begs the question: Why is it so? Is it, as they say, rocket science, and too tall an order for the town’s technical team/engineers?  What on earth can it be when the situation seems to be getting worse?

About a year ago I asked if we have blind people overseeing our interests, or is it that these are not their interests? And I need to repeat once again that in spite of all the hundreds of millions boasted about that was spent on drainage, there hasn’t been any positive effect in terms of preventing flooding; it is just as if nothing had been done, since anything more than a drizzle puts the town under water. It is the same old, same old, and someone in authority who cares needs to speak out very loud.

The torrential downpour Thursday gone was no play; it was one of its kind in a very long time. Still, if our drainage network was functioning well things would not have been this terrible. The situation in this town that has just finished celebrating its 42nd birthday is totally irritating. Is this the way a town is kept? By the way, the garbage left around after the Town week celebrations was the chief culprit in contributing to the horrible ugly spectacle.  Seriously, I suggest that there be a public meeting where residents, young and old who have some knowledge of the drainage system along with the town engineers and all the other relevant personnel meet with the purpose of restoring an effective drainage network for the sake of our health and the safety of our children.  The condition of the roads in this town are abominable; newly built roads hardly last beyond six months.  Our community/region is frighteningly infested with mosquitoes of almost every type, something which has never ever been experienced in the past.  I further suggest that the covers of those drains recently built and which serve little or no use be lifted so that the drains can be properly cleaned and re-examined.  It is a shame that residents and senior functionaries stood by and observed the drains being covered without first being cleaned!

There is a technical official who told me that he pointed out to the Clerk of Works senior personnel and also the contractor a number of defects that would have negative results, but all to no avail.

Look!  It is time that this community wakes up from its slumber, avoids and dismisses all the clap-trap, hypocrisy and piffle, and recognize and understand things for what they are and the direction in which we are headed.

There are just too many things amiss in this 42-year-old Town, too many games being played, hence too many wrongs that seem stubbornly rooted.

Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe