As the rain continues, the water level in the Mahaica and Mahaicony is getting higher and some residents have already lost their entire crops while others are struggling to save what is left of theirs.
Their fears that water was being released from the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) were confirmed yesterday afternoon, following an announcement by Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.
Large-scale cash crop farmer Sukdeo ‘Tony’ Dharamdat, of Handsome Tree, located on the left bank of the Mahaica Creek, told Stabroek News yesterday that he was “stressed out” over the loss of his crops which amounted to over $1M.
He said he was “lying in bed and ah can’t catch meself up to now… I owe the bank and ah wondering wah gon happen now. It’s hard, very, very hard. I was expecting to get something [from the crop] but ah lost everything.”
Dharamdat said 2,000 roots of bora were destroyed by the floodwaters as well as other produce such as corilla, watermelon, squash, saime and cucumber. He lamented too that he has no other means of earning a living.
Residents were thankful that the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary/Agricultural-Authority (MMA/ADA) has installed “a big hydraulic pump at Big Biaboo.”
They said the pump is working 24-hours and has offered some relief although it was only helping to prevent the excess rainwater from entering their farms.
They had told this newspaper that the water level in the creek was rising rapidly and they suspected that the water was being released from the EDWC. They also said they needed to “know the level of the water in the conservancy, so we would be able to make preparation in case we have to move our livestock.” Many of the animals, they said, have no dry spots and are left in the water and “catching cramps.”
‘At stake’
When this newspaper contacted Chabraj Ramdeen, of Grass Hook, Mahaica Creek, he was busy in his farm trying to save as many tomatoes as he could.
He said the water was “very high” and he had also lost his bora plants while his other produce was under threat.
A resident of Big Biaboo, Amaldass ‘Ganesh’ Ramdass told this newspaper that he has already lost 3,000 roots of “bearing bora” and one acre of ochro, while his other crops like peppers “are at stake.”
He said too that his “house surround with water,” noting that the level in the creek was unusually high. Although he too suspected that the water was being released from the EDWC, he acknowledged that the rainfall was persistent. He noted too that water from St. Cuthbert’s Mission was also draining through the creek.
Some residents have continued to pump water out of their farms but a resident of Little Baiboo was forced to discontinue because he lost the battle to the rising water. As a result, he lost all of his bora, ochro and tomatoes plants.
Another farmer, Naresh Bhagwandin, was lucky to keep the water out of his farm so far and save his pepper and plantain crops.
Rice under threat
Farmers stressed that the “last part of the road,” which they accessed to take out their produce, has become impassable.
They said that instead of driving straight out on the public road like they used to, they now have to travel about one mile by boat before getting to a good spot to take the produce out. They pointed out that government had promised to fix the road after the last flood but nothing was done.
The residents also said that a small section of the embankment “on the Region Four side,” has eroded and that several requests for it to be fixed have also fallen on deaf ears.
According to Bhagwandin, “an excavator was sitting in the area for a few months and still the work was not done.”
He said too that he even called officials from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority and offered them his pontoon. They promised to get back to him but they never did. “If the water overtops the embankment several farmers would be affected,” he said.
Meanwhile, the water has receded in most of the villages in West Berbice and on the Corentyne as a result of the pumps that were put into operation.
Residents of the cattle and rice growing area of the Abary Creek are also being severely affected by the flooding.
Following heavy downpours yesterday though, flooding returned to the low-lying areas, including Belladrum and No. 8 Village – from where a family was forced to relocate and Tucber Park and Vryman’s Erven in New Amsterdam.
An agricultural official related that over 5,000 acres of rice crop in the West Berbice area was under threat and farmers were desperately trying to pump it out.
He said that this was occurring “mostly at the rear of the main canal where the dams, rice field and trenches are at one level.” He said farmers have made “millions of dollars in investment” and would suffer tremendous losses.
A West Berbice farmer said most of the cash crops were destroyed and that out of 900 roots of peppers he was only able to save about 300 roots.
