Maybe because of the narrowness of Water street at this point, or for some other reason, this Koker stands out, alone across the canal, I’ve known it for most of my life, passed it many times, even photographed it from a distance a few times (from High Street), it was only when I was actually walking here (its a lonely area, so its not something I’ve done before) that I walked past it and noticed that to the south of it there’s actually a smaller Koker alongside a pump station.

According to the koker / pump attendant, there are actually multiple waterways, not just the large Canal we usually see, and the kokers were used together to control the flow. This older one does not operate anymore, its been broken and not repaired. The pump was in working condition, the attendant was happy to talk to us and explain things.

The jobs the koker / pump attendants do are quite important to a city like Georgetown, which lies about 6 feet below sea-level, often we see flooding and blame them (the attendants), but its not always just their fault (sometimes it is), our city’s drains are usually clogged with trash from our very own citizens, or overgrown with weeds, and I’ve recently seen the works by our very own government who filled in a large drainage canal (which had gotten quite clogged over the years) to make walkways, or more like a promenade.

Our drainage system was developed way back in colonial times under the Dutch and British, and the capacity was calculated to accommodate certain types of rainfalls, today we have a lot more rain, and it seems a lot less drainage, but sometimes, aesthetics are more important to those in power than the practicalities of daily life. (just my opinion)

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