By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News|
KWAKWANI, GUYANA — More than 1,600 residents across the riverain Region 10 communities of Kwakwani, Hururu, and Aroaima continue to endure severe hardships nearly a month after persistent, torrential rainfall triggered widespread, devastating flooding.
The emergency, which began on May 28, 2026, has left massive swathes of these interior communities heavily inundated, completely disrupting daily commerce, compromising residential structures, and decimating local agricultural livelihoods.
Regional Vice Chairman for Region 10 and member of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, Mark Goring, has expressed deep concern and disappointment over what he characterized as a slow, inadequate response from the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) and the central government. Goring noted that while the state has executed initial impact assessments, tangible material relief has been slow to reach the affected families trapped in their homes.
According to Goring, the agency only mobilized after he went on Facebook Live last Monday to publicly call out the administration’s perceived neglect of the sub-district. Following that public broadcast, CDC Director General Colonel (Ret’d) Nazrul Hussain contacted the regional leadership and subsequently traveled to the area to conduct brief operational monitoring over the following Thursday and Friday.
“He did come in on Thursday and conducted brief monitoring on Thursday afternoon and Friday,” Goring explained. “However, in terms of direct support for residents—such as food hampers or cleaning and hygiene supplies—we are still awaiting that from the CDC. That hasn’t been done. They indicated that they would complete a report and then engage the community on the way forward.”
To bring immediate relief to the area and mitigate the compounding annual overflow, the Regional Vice Chairman is urging the CDC and the Ministry of Public Works to immediately implement structural engineering interventions. Goring recommended clearing heavily clogged local creeks and drains and deploying an amphibious excavator to clear runoff paths. Crucially, he urged authorities to resurrect a historical maintenance practice.
“Years ago, under the bauxite company, they used to dredge the river,” Goring recalled. “I am recommending that the CDC and the Ministry of Public Works dredge the river for immediate relief. They need to clear out the channels that have not been maintained for quite some time.”
In response to the escalating crisis, Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and his team traveled to the hard-hit areas over the weekend to distribute more than 400 emergency food and supply hampers to families across the Kwakwani Waterfront, Hururu, and Aroaima/Laddersville loops. While Goring warmly welcomed the opposition’s intervention, he stressed that a private handout does not absolve the state of its statutory duties, particularly regarding the distribution of vital sanitation and medical kits to prevent waterborne disease outbreaks.
When contacted directly by Nightly News to address the regional criticism, CDC Director General Colonel (Ret’d) Nazrul Hussain confirmed that his field teams had successfully completed their impact assessments alongside Regional Executive Officer Dr. Harris and Kwakwani NDC Chairperson Michelle Simeon. However, the Director General declined to elaborate on what specific physical interventions or timeline would follow, stating defensively that direct national mobilization is typically triggered only when regional resources are proven insufficient to address the situation.
As floodwaters show no immediate signs of receding and standard weather forecasts predict another month of heavy rain, hundreds of vulnerable families remain marooned on high ground, hoping that the state will urgently transition from administrative reporting to direct, on-the-ground support.
