A disaster waiting to happen

Jan 18, 2013 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
I have grown up hearing that Georgetown was the Garden City but as I aged I wonder about the truism of that statement. Georgetown today has a multiplicity of problems that no one seems to be addressing.
Let us look at the drainage situation. The Demerara River which serves as the confluence for many of the internal drains and canals in the city and the adjacent communities on both sides of the river is silted up.
The river requires dredging in order to increase its capacity to accommodate the rainfall runoff from those internal waterways.
In Georgetown apart of the fact that many of the drains are silted up, they also serve as the receptacles for plastic bags and bottles, Styrofoam food boxes and many other forms of rubbish.
And that is not all; effluent flows in these drains and canals adding stench and pollution to the environment.
Everyone who lives in Georgetown and the itinerant population that frequents, experience the reek that emanates from the garbage piles around the city. However, the sinister threat about which I wish to comment comes from the sewer system.
Normally, the sewer system does not function properly. When it is not blocked with rubbish that delinquent users deposit in the system, it is the problem of the pumps breaking down.
The current burgeoning manifestation is the backing up of the system whenever there is high tide.
This compression causes commode systems on the ground floors to mal function.
Lavatories cannot deposit their contents in the sewer as the water from the river floods the sewer lines. So, the sewage overflows into homes and in the yards through the chambers.
What can the aggrieved sufferers do? To which agency can they turn for redress?
Who are the competent authorities responsible for correcting the above situations?
How long must people suffer these indignities? Are we awaiting a calamity to occur before we take action? I hope not.
Hubert C. Roberts