An Armadale, West Berbice cash crop farmer is crying out over the losses he suffered after his farm was inundated, following heavy rainfall on Monday and yesterday.
Narinedat Sain, 45, told Stabroek News that he invested over $400,000 in his crop, which included two acres of boulanger, one and a half acre of ochroes and a half acre of tomatoes.
He said most of the tomatoes were already damaged while the boulanger plants were almost covered with water. When this newspaper visited his farm yesterday, he and two of his workers were reaping some of the ochroes.
He pointed out that he could not pump out the water because the canal was already swollen. Water from the canal flowed across the dam and into his farm.
The water, he said kept rising although the rain had stopped and he was worried about where it was coming from. He surmised that “this is not rainfall water alone.”
This is the third time in recent months that he has suffered major losses and he was becoming “frustrated with the situation.”
Other farmers at Ithaca, Blairmont, Bath and Bush Lot and other West Berbice villages also suffered a similar fate.
A resident of Section ‘D’ Bush Lot, Narda Mohabir was distressed that the water had damaged her carpets and cupboards in her bottom flat. She said early yesterday morning she had to lift her stove, refrigerator, television stand and furniture so as to prevent them from being damaged.
Her outdoor bathroom and toilet were also flooded and she said that was causing her a lot of inconvenience. Her sour-sop plant in her yard was also destroyed.
Thakurdeen Ramassar of Bush Lot, New Housing Scheme, told this newspaper that his “garden duck out” and that he lost several roots of boulanger and bora. He said too that the water had entered his kitchen and living room in the lower flat and damaged his carpet. Luckily, his wife had finished cooking because he had to lift the gas stove and refrigerator to safety.
He also had to remove a bed, sofa set and other items to prevent them from being damaged.
Ramassar pointed out that on Monday he noticed the water rising in his yard but it had never entered the lower flat, so he did not take precautions. He said he had already left for work when his wife called to say that the water had started to go into the house. He hurried home and started to secure the items. The man said he was not satisfied with the response from regional officials when he called to report the flood. He wondered what they [officials] were doing to bring relief to residents.
Other residents in the area said they were told that the extent of the flooding could have been prevented “if the pump at Trafalgar was working.”
Some of the residents said they “had to raise we fowl pens” but livestock farmer, Lakhan Ramlagan of Bush Lot was not so lucky. He lamented that more than 20 of his ducks “catch cramp and dead.” His sheep and goats were also running out of dry lands and he was worried about them too. He said the animals went over to his empty lot nearby, where there is just a little high spot. He said he lived in the area “for many years and we never had flood.”
Residents of Blairmont were “under knee-deep water on and off since Monday” and they had a meeting with officials of the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary/ Agricultural-Development-Authority (MMA/ADA) and the region. Residents of No. 4 Settlement reportedly asked for the dam to be cut to release the water. Around 4 am yesterday, an excavator and a truck were seen in the area doing the job. Residents of Ithaca said that around 7 am, they noticed the “water gushing into the village. We inquired and were told about the dam that was cut.”
Around 9 am, after the tide dropped, the water started to recede. The residents said they would have preferred if the dam was cut after the tide had dropped.
Contacted, Regional Chairman of Region Five Harrinarine Baldeo told this newspaper that the dam at Blairmont was indeed cut but the job had not been completed. He said tubes had to be installed and that would have brought the situation at Ithaca under control. With regards to the flooding, the Chairman said “based on how the drainage [system] is situated, we collaborated with MMA” to assist the residents. He mentioned that “once the tide is falling, the kokers have to be opened and water from all around would drain into the main canal. When the system is closed, there would be a build up,” resulting in the flooding.
Baldeo related too that arrangements were being made for a pump to be placed at Blairmont. According to him, the rain started from Sunday night and because of the volume of water, the system could not drain it at the same time. He also said that water was “coming from the backdam and in the interior and up to this time residents cannot understand this… If the rain continues for about four more days, the situation can get worse.”
Questioned about the pump at Trafalgar, Baldeo said he learnt that it had been vandalised and was not working. He pointed out that that has compounded the problem. General Manager of MMA Aubrey Charles, when contacted later, confirmed that the pump was not working because vandals recently stole the electrical cables. He noted that while they were “trying to improve drainage some people were trying to make things difficult….” He also said that the tube at Blairmont had already been installed.
