Floodwaters expected to begin receding when tide changes – Harmon

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon today said that while Georgetown and other parts of the country are currently experiencing flooding due to excessive rainfall coupled with the spring tide, the Government is taking every step to ensure that there is minimum loss or damage to property, a release from the Ministry of the Presidency said.

He expects the water to begin to recede once the tide changes, during the latter half of the day.

“The Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, the Ministry of Communities and the Mayor and City Council have put measures in place to ensure that as soon as the tide changes the water will be drained off of the land within a reasonable timeframe,”  Harmon was quoted in the release as saying.

The Minister added that all pumps and sluices are functioning and that the Civil Defence Commission’s (CDC) Emergency Operations Centre has been activated in other parts of the country and is monitoring the situation. He said that Colonel (ret’d) Chabilall Ramsarup, Director General of the CDC said that his officers are on the ground gathering information from all the affected regions and they are monitoring the situation. He also said that some communities in West Berbice are experiencing flooding and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority has dispatched two excavators to bring relief to those areas.

Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, said his Ministry is currently doing on-the-ground assessments and will release a full statement during the latter half of the day.

Town Clerk of Georgetown, Royston King said that while all the drainage pumps are operable, the city engineers are in the field clearing blockages in canals. “We will continue to monitor the situation. Our engineers continue to monitor the situation and we will keep the public informed as we go along. The city engineers are in communication with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and the Ministry of Agriculture,” King said.