Farmers along the Mahaica and Mahaicony creeks yesterday agonized over flood losses and they argued that it had been caused by the authorities releasing water via the Maduni sluice, a charged strongly denied by Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy.
Ramsammy yesterday denied the claims of the farmers stating that at no point recently was water released from the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC).
Farmers along the Maha-icony Creek told Stabroek News that early last week they observed that the water level was rising sharply. They said that this was odd since there was no substantial rainfall prior to or during the period.
Rice farmer, Sundarlall Arjune told Stabroek News that he was still recovering from the floods which occurred during the first quarter of this year following which he lost some 16 acres of rice. He said that last week he and other farmers in the area observed that the water in the creek was rising. He said that the floodwaters overtopped parts of a dam which was built by the authorities to prevent rice farms from being flooded by the creek.
“We deh in this place and some people nah even recover yet from February month flooding and now a lot of people affected by this flooding …nuff people lose rice and cash crops,” Arjune said.
The Pine Ground farmer said he was angry that “nobody from agriculture [Agriculture Ministry] come in this place and tell we anything.” He said that since various promises were made by the authorities earlier in the year following the floods, no one visited the area and neither were promises to assist the farmers with fertilizer, seeds and other forms of assistance fulfilled.
Another farmer at Gordon Table related that several acres of his rice farm had been submerged, noting that it’s the second time for the year his farm has been hit by floodwater. He said that since the last floods in January this year, he has not received any form of assistance from the authorities, noting that, ”dem does come in this area and mek nuff promises and all we does do is smile because is year in year out we seeing the same thing”.
He said that yesterday, the water was receding, adding that, “we ain’t getting no sort of satisfaction or consideration from the government.”
Over at the Mahaica Creek, Big Baiboo farmer Harrylall related that some 2,000 bora plants were destroyed by the floodwaters. The man’s wife said that since the January floods, the family decided to plant only bora, ”because we lose plenty in [the] first quarter when the water been release from the conservancy.” She said her neighbours, who planted tomatoes and celery are now counting huge losses.
Confused
Another farmer Harryram related that the waters rose sharply in the area last week and he was confused since there was no rainfall at the time. He said that since the floods earlier in the year he had not received any form of assistance from the authorities.
Up the Mahaica Creek, Chabraj Ramdeen’s wife related yesterday that the family had lost some 800 roots of tomato over the past week. She said the water level remained steady yesterday and residents of the area are praying that the situation improves.
In April this year Ramsammy told the National Assembly that since 2005, more than $4.1 billion has been spent on drainage and irrigation in Region Five to control flooding of the Mahaicony and Mahaica Creek areas caused by the controlled release of water from the EDWC via the Maduni sluice.
In a written response to a question posed in the National Assembly by APNU, MP Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, he said the funds were spent on revetment works, structural and earthen works, construction of sluices as well as on empoldering and embankment works in the areas.
Ramsammy stated that of the total, $1.9 billion was spent on the Northern Relief Channel of the EDWC which is under construction with the objective of decreasing flooding in the Region 5 area.
Ramsammy also said that by the end of the project, drainage capacity of the EDWC to the Demerara River would be increased by 35%. He stated that the government, through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), will direct additional investments geared at strengthening drainage and irrigation.
