The long-awaited clearing of the silted-up mouth of the Abary Creek finally commenced yesterday and residents, though pleased, felt that a long-boom excavator would have been more effective.
When Stabroek News visited the site along with farmers and officials from the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary/ Agricultural-Development-Authority (MMA/ADA), owner of the machine, Dennis Ross said he had already removed a lot of silt.
An iron object and pieces of wood were among the silt removed. The man who has to clear a distance of about one mile only gets to work about five or six hours per day during the low tide.
Ross said the job may take about two weeks as the machine, which is mounted on a unifloat can only reach a depth of about 10 ft.
Like the residents, he feels a long-boom excavator, which can go to a depth of 50 ft would have been better for the job. He said he offered to provide his machine after residents made the request for the government to provide one and were told that none was available.
Government is supplying the fuel and the labour for the task. Ross said he is willing to invest in a long-boom excavator and take on the contract to do a proper job, once government was prepared to compensate him.
A large-scale cattle farmer in the Abary Creek, Ross said he has already lost about 12 cows and wants to provide relief “to myself and the other farmers”.
Meanwhile, a rice farmer who has invested in 300 acres of rice “south of the main canal”, said his rice was under threat from the flooding and he was satisfied that an effort was being made to desilt the creek.
Mahase, a resident who was very vocal to Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud about the creek not being cleared despite repeated requests, told this newspaper yesterday, “Me satisfy with the work because it better than nothing. MMA don’t have any machine to provide and this is an emergency. Farmers’ stocks dying out in the creek; dead animals deh all over and the next thing you know a sick would break out…”
According to Mahase, the last time he visited the mouth of the creek “the water was barely pulling but since the Hymac [excavator] start digging the water look like it pulling more fast.”
He was concerned about “trees growing across the creek and causing it to get narrow. Ah know the government can’t do everything one time. But we glad if dem can widen the creek before the next flood come around.”
Meanwhile MMA Opera-tions and Maintenance Mana-ger Randolph Primo agreed that while “the work needed an excavator with a longer reach that would have been more effective,” the equipment being used would bring some relief “even though movements can be pretty slow”. (Shabna Ullah)
