The Opposition at a press conference on Thursday called for the Vergenoegen koker to be fixed as according to them during a recent visit residents complained bitterly about it and the heavily silted canal which leads to flooding.

Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton stated that the residents complained that the Truck Line Canal that drains Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo is completely silted up and that the koker at the canal is in a state of disrepair. As such, he said that the residents are demanding that the government move rapidly to have this situation rectified.

He said that according to them as soon as it rains the community is flooded thus affecting the livelihood of the residents.

It is unclear why these works have not been undertaken by the Greenwich Park/Vergenoegen Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) or the Region Three council.

Meanwhile, Norton noted that the Opposition Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Vinceroy Jordan has since dispatched a letter to the Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar

Mustapha requesting “his speedy intervention” to have both issues dealt with so as to bring relief to the affected residents.

Additionally, the Opposition Leader stated that during the recent visit residents also expressed concern that the subvention allocated to the NDC for 2022 to their knowledge was not utilized.

“They are seeking an explanation as to why it was not utilized… Was it returned to the Consolidated Fund and what is the present status of the subvention”, he said.