Floodwaters in the Mahaica and Mahaicony creeks have remained stagnant for several weeks, leaving residents uneasy about their future.
They told Stabroek News that with their crops lost and livestock dying, there was nothing for them to do and they have no means of earning an income. One resident, who asked not to be named, said “the poor class of people getting poorer because we don’t have anything to depend on. Instead of three meals a day we now have to eat two.”
Rani Panday of Waterdog Creek, on the left bank of the Mahaicony Creek, said “overnight the flood came and we couldn’t save anything… we finding it hard to maintain our homes.”
She has lost all her produce from her farm as well as her ducks, goats and chickens along with six “big cows and seven calves.”
She said too that her son had 1,000 hassars in a pond and the floodwaters caused all to escape. Her son depended on the fish business for a living. “Life is hard for us right now. This is not a one-day story; we facing this for about one month now. People think we are happy but only God knows how we are feeling,” Panday said.
According to her, the water started to rise higher during the Phagwah festival and “we did not even get to enjoy Phagwah.” Since then, the level has dropped by about one foot. Panday said members of a Christian church and the Indian Arrival Committee had taken in foodstuff but residents on the left bank did not benefit. She is calling for assistance with food items because they are “running out.”
Residents have had to pay a lot to go out on the coast to purchase vegetables since the flood and Panday said the items were very expensive. She paid $100 for one Boulanger and $100 per pound for ochro. That is not be enough for her, she said, because “five big persons living in my home.” She was, however, grateful that she received drugs for the few cows she has left from the veterinarians when they visited.
Meanwhile, with May/June rains approaching, she is afraid that the flooding would continue until then. “We cannot walk in dirty water all the time. My feet got infected already. Some people cannot even go to the toilet… [it’s] all under water,” Panday said.
Chetram Ramdas, of Little Biaboo, Mahaica Creek, said the residents there are facing similar problems. “Crops were lost and lots of animals are dying,” he said.
Some cattle farmers have had to relocate their animals to the roadside with relatives. He said that the floodwater is stagnant there too and has an unpleasant smell. There has also been an infestation of mosquitoes. He said although they have received a little monetary assistance from government, it cannot compensate for the losses.
Since the flood, he said, a team of medical personnel from the Mahaicony Hospital has been visiting the Health Centre in the area twice weekly to provide treatment to residents.
