Suriname floods for weeks, flooded schools are forced to close

Rainfall in recent months has already caused problems at Afupaka Dam, north of the Prokobondo Reservoir.

Paramaribo in particular is now being hit hard. The sewage systems are outdated, and the pumping stations are of very limited capacity to handle heavy and prolonged rains.

According to Public Works Minister Noor Muhammad, it may take some time before the problems are resolved: “Dewatering is an expensive joke, but we are constantly cleaning canals and digging gutters in neighborhoods,” he told NOS. “There is a plan with solutions to increase pumping capacity, in particular, just because of increasingly intense rainfall and climate change, we have to make further adjustments.”

The north of the city is also close to the sea, which leads to an increased risk of flooding. There are also some new customization projects that do not yet have the proper drainage. Some streets north of Paramaribo are also low, so water will stay if the pump is not pumped quickly. The problem is that there are not enough financial resources to increase the capacity of the pumps and create drain points on the privatization projects, says Noor Mohamed, “with increasing urgency.”