As residents of Kwakwani and surrounding communities in Region Ten continue to contend with flooding, Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal says the government has been developing a new housing scheme to provide an alternative for residents living in flood-prone areas along the waterfront.
Speaking to reporters during preparations for the Building Expo at the Providence Stadium, Croal acknowledged that flooding has long affected sections of Kwakwani whenever there is heavy rainfall.
“Kwakwani, as you quite rightly identified, on the waterfront they have issues of flooding whenever there is heavy rainfall. We engaged persons and as a result, a new housing scheme was designed and is being developed,” he said.
Croal explained that the Ministry of Housing and Water acquired lands from the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission to facilitate the project.
“We were able to get land from Lands and Survey and started a new housing scheme,” he said.
According to the minister, the ministry’s housing team visits the community monthly to engage residents and advance the initiative. He said infrastructure works are currently being undertaken by three contractors in preparation for the allocation of house lots.
“That housing scheme is being developed. We have three contractors involved in building out the infrastructure work and it’s ongoing. We very early recognized we have to have a plan. It’s for us to make it available. We have made the area available,” Croal said.
He noted that while some waterfront residents have indicated a preference to remain where they are, others who have applied for house lots will be able to benefit from the new scheme once infrastructure works are completed.
“Some have responded and indicated they want to remain because they want to stay on the waterfront,” he said.
Losses
Meanwhile, residents continue to assess their losses as floodwaters remain in several communities more than a week after severe flooding inundated parts of the region.
Ashanti Lindie, a resident of Laudern’s Ville and a poultry farmer, told the Kiskadee Watch that the flooding has devastated her poultry operation and her family’s farming activities.
She said floodwaters inundated her chicken pens, while her father’s vegetable crops were submerged and destroyed.
Lindie said she started with a flock of 200 chickens but has since lost about 70 birds.
“They are still there but we try to move them to higher ground. Unfortunately, the water keeps coming and reaching where we place them,” she told this publication via phone.
She explained that although the water has receded slightly, the birds remain stranded and sales have slowed significantly, affecting her main source of income.
Lindie said she has been battling floodwaters for about three weeks, with conditions worsening over the past week.
She added that despite the flooding, food supplies remain adequate and residents continue to access water from the community’s shared well.
Lindie believes improved drainage infrastructure is needed to reduce flooding in the area and aid future recovery efforts.
She also said the floodwaters have resulted in an increase in snakes and other wildlife entering residential yards.
“We’ve killed a lot of snakes in the past couple of weeks. They are just in the yard now, and we see more of them,” she said.
Another poultry farmer, Nicola Daw of Coomacka Mines, said she suffered heavy losses after floodwaters inundated her property.
She told Kiskadee Watch that she was forced to use a boat to access her yard at the height of the flooding and lost chickens and other livestock as water levels rose.
Daw said the flooding significantly reduced egg production, affecting the income she relies on to purchase feed.
She explained that although she had prepared for flooding based on previous experiences, this event exceeded anything she had encountered before.
“I feel a little depressed because I invested what little I had into my farm. Losing the eggs is especially hard. If I don’t have eggs to sell, I have to find money to buy feed, which is a big setback,” she said.
She added that her family has also been affected, with her children confined indoors because of floodwaters, foul odours and unsanitary conditions.
Daw said her household continues to rely on river water for domestic use, treating it with bleach where necessary, and noted that some residents have reported skin irritations after coming into contact with the floodwaters.
To reduce future flooding, she called for the dredging of the river, arguing that years without dredging have contributed to flooding in the community.
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