Demerara Waves Online News- Guyana Riding on the Crest of Truth
Last Updated on Sunday, 6 July 2014, 17:14 by GxMedia
A group of residents, equipped with buckets, de-silt one of the drains on 6th Street, Alberttown, Georgetown.
They pooled their money and labour to Sunday remove loads of silt and other obstructions from a drain running through their community. Chipping in at short notice were fire fighters who used a fire tender to pump water out of one of the drains so that the thick silt could have been removed and carted off by municipal sanitation workers.
“We are hoping that as a result of this there is going to be some degree of duplication, that it’s going to become contagious and it’s going to spread to other communities because this is only one area and effective drainage will be solely dependent on what happens in other areas of Alberttown,” Spokesman for the 6th Street Community Development Association, Carl Brandon told Demerara Waves Online News.
He said the decision to clean the clogged drains and reduce the chance of flooding comes at a time when the mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus is spreading across the country. “Knowing that there has been the recent discovery of the Chikungunya disease… Wherever you have water clogged, the mosquitoes can breed and it’s obvious ly we want the area to be free of mosquitoes so it is necessary that we take time off to make sure that we clean the environment,” he said.
Residents complained that the flood waters remain for days not only on the road but in their yards and lower flats of their dwellings.
Brandon hopes that the authorities will be motivated by the self-help mode of the 6th Street Community Development Association and will provide further assistance. “We realize that in order to receive support from the government, it is important for them to see what we are doing initially and then they may be inclined to provide some form of support. 
We are not depending on the government. This is our community and we want to make sure that the environment is as clean as is possible,” he said.
Residents describe 6th Street as somewhat of a basin that floods easily after a brief shower of rain.They also lamented the build-up of construction waste and the clogged Church Street canal. Concerns were also raised about the adjustment of the drainage system in 6th Street by a number of property owners, resulting in no access to drain itself and flooding at another section closer to Light Street.