Works to begin Wednesday to clear blocked drains in River View

Residents of River View, Ruimveldt are expected to benefit from drainage improvement works set to begin on Wednesday as authorities move to address persistent flooding concerns in the community.

During a visit to the River View Pump Station on Tuesday, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, said residents raised concerns about blocked internal drains, which are preventing water from flowing properly during heavy rainfall.

River View, located near Alexander Village, is among the low-lying communities in Georgetown prone to flooding.

“A lot of residents are living there, a lot of children are there and there is no drainage at the back there. The internal drainage completely blocked,” he said.

As such, Mustapha said he has instructed the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) to deploy the equipment to the area on Wednesday to begin clearing the drains.

“I have instructed the NDIA (National Drainage and Irrigation Authority) tomorrow (Wednesday) to provide a small excavator, they will take it at the back there, they will excavate the drain, they will truck out the spoil and I am hoping that will help the situation at the back there,” Mustapha explained.

The Agriculture Minister said drainage capacity in the area has already been boosted with the addition of a second pump.

However, he noted that despite much of the village remaining dry, some residents are still experiencing flooding in their homes because water from the internal drains cannot flow into the main drainage system.

“If you look around you will see the entire village is dry but there are some residents complaining that in there house there is water because there is no system to drain from the internal drain,” he said.

Mustapha stressed that maintaining the internal drainage network is critical to reducing flooding in the community.

“…We need the internal drains to hold water to build capacity so that when the rain fall the water can go into those drains and drain out to the primary canal,” he said.