Contractor compensates Wakenaam residents for flood damage

Contractor Deowdat Singh says he has repaid the residents of Wakenaam who suffered serious damage from flooding in several villages in June, for which he had accepted partial responsibility.

Singh had previously told Stabroek News that he was accepting partial blame for the June 17th, 2018 flooding, which he said was caused by an unusually high tide that he did not anticipate.

Speaking with Stabroek News again on Monday, Singh noted that he has disbursed “couple millions of dollars” to several residents in Wakenaam who would have suffered damage to their homes, furniture, appliances and important documents.

“A couple days after I gave them cash. Everybody that was affected, I went there with the Chairman and others and we went around to have a look and they told me what it was and I calculated and gave them cash,” Singh said.

He had promised to compensate the residents after accepting partial responsibility for the flood and emphasised that it was not caused by a breach but mere overtopping due to an unusually high tide.

“It wasn’t a breach. It was just the tide was too high. We work [with] a tide book and when we checked the tide book, we built the wall for what we were expecting and it came up far more higher and we didn’t cater for that,” Singh previously said.

He said on Monday that the work on the defences is currently at 95% done but the current weather conditions are hindering his progress.

Stabroek News was told that there was one person who suffered losses in excess of $500,000, while there were a dozen others who also incurred major expenses. Singh also reportedly compensated the Masjid with $500,000 to replace its carpets and anything else that was damaged.

Despite Singh’s acceptance of the blame for the flood and his actions of compensation, the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) had sent a letter to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure for there to be an investigation of the incident.

When questioned about whether there had been any communication between the Ministry and his company, Singh said no, while stressing that “the flood was not caused by a breach. Is was lil overtopping and at that point the tide was high and it was the heavy rain in the river that made it very high but it was never a breach.”

Approximately 37 residents from San Souci and other surrounding communities in Wakenaam were affected by the flooding, and more than a dozen of them suffered major losses.

Resident Zamar Zaman had related that when he went home and saw his entire yard and house inundated, he nearly fainted. He said the flood damaged his refrigerator, a freezer, a washing machine and other appliances and he estimated that he had suffered more than $250,000 in losses.