The residents are blaming rice farmers, who they said removed the koker door to irrigate their rice lands.

Several residents were busy removing poultry to higher ground.

Kissoon Sookar, one of the affected residents, claimed that his goods were damaged. Paltoo Harrinarine, another resident, said that he would lose some $40,000 from his garden cultivation. He said that since he stopped planting rice, he has been depending on a kitchen garden for his livelihood.

Lallchand says he will lose about $50,000 in poultry, as many of the chickens have begun to show signs of being affected.

This newspaper learnt that this is the first time that the water has risen to this level. The residents claim that at other times when the community became flooded the Koker door was only partially open.

The flood is likely to continue tomorrow, when the tide is high once more, and this could affect attendance at school.

The residents are calling on the authorities to investigate this indiscriminate act. Efforts to contact the Chairman of Wakenaam NDC proved futile.

Tuesday 12-05-2006