Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud on Wednesday met residents and farmers of Blairmont/Ithaca No. 4 settlement, No.8 village and No. 29/30 West Coast Berbice to address their losses during the La Nina weather and other issues, the Government Information Agency (GINA) said.
During the meeting at Blairmont/I thaca residents asked for assistance in construction of aquaculture ponds, a hymac for excavating the canal, for the loss of cattle due to salt water intrusion, NIS medicals for injured GuySuCo employees and electricity supply.
According to the release, while at No. 8, 29 and 30 villages, the issue of additional extension officers to assist cash crop farmers, larceny, cattle rustling, bulldozers to repair dams, construction of additional outfall channels, trained sluice attendants, vandalism of equipment at the areas’ pump station and installation of street lights were highlighted.
Minister Persaud in addressing the issues pointed out that the recent flooding some residents endured was the result of extreme rainfall over a six-day period which amounted to rainfall for an entire month.
During the six days of rainfall, the Hydromet Office recorded that rainfall surpassed the average 120 millilitres for February with a record 145 millilitres.
He added that special emphasis will be given to the Blairmont/Ithaca area since it is very vulnerable to flooding.
“Interventions will not only be looked at to manage flooding during the above normal rainfall period but rather than taking the incremental approach which is implementing interventions as problems arise, we will have to be much more strategic,” he said.
Persaud said that while areas prone to flooding will continue to be vulnerable due to climate change and the country’s topography of being below sea level, efforts are moving apace to ensure that the areas are much more resilient.
In this regard, additional outlets will be created to complement the existing drainage systems.
However, he stated that the issue still remains a challenging one, since the ministry’s National Drainage and Irrigation Authority’s financial capability remains limited.
An excavator will be re-deployed shortly to the Ithaca area to complete excavation work which was halted due to the rainy periods. This will also aid in government’s efforts at integrating GuySuCo’s drainage and water management with that of the communities to better manage the water system, the release added.
