Wakenaam koker opening blamed for flooding

Aug 19, 2008 News

The indiscriminate flooding caused by the opening of one of two kokers at Friendship, Wakenaam, has resulted in thousands of dollars in losses and severe inconvenience to the residents.

This newspaper has learnt that whenever a farmer desires water for his rice lands, he opens the koker for water to flood his rice fields.

On Saturday, someone opened the koker, and because the tide was exceptionally high, the water rose to an unprecedented height, flooding farmlands, homes, and even the public road, one resident said.

Mr. Seeram, who owns a rice factory, was disturbed after the water reached the drying floor and flooded the shed which houses his combine and spares.

Mr. Rohit Persaud’s house had water several inches high, and his prized flower garden was flooded. Suffering the greatest loss, however, was Mr. Latchman Bissessar, whose farmlands, house and store rooms were inundated.

Bissessar says that he had recently applied fertilizer to his sucker and citrus plants. This farmland had over two feet of water.

Bissessar is blaming the Wakenaam Neighbourhood Democratic Council for his dilemma. The NDC, he says, has failed to block a culvert across a dam, and this has been the cause of flooding, which destroyed his stockfeed and spare parts and affected his poultry and other livestock.