Region Two Chairman Parmanand Persaud yesterday visited some parts of the Lower Pomeroon River that were severely flooded over the holidays, including farmlands where crops were lost.
Persaud, accompanied by an engineer who works with the region, inspected several farms in the area and farmers are hoping that better drainage systems can be put in place to prevent their lands from being flooded in the future. The findings of the visit are to be forwarded to the Cabinet by the Regional Chairman, this newspaper was told.
Farmers said that acres of cassava, pumpkin and pear suffered as a result of the flood and their losses were great. One farmer lamented that all his cassava roots had rotted. “I had a lot of cassava and all the roots rotten because of the flood. I sell the cassava so you can imagine what I went through. All them things gone,” he said.
Another farmer, Mr Glen told Stabroek News that about a quarter of an acre of his crops were destroyed by the floods. “I usually plant cash crops, such as pumpkin, watermelon and cucumber and all these things rotten when the floods came. The place where I plant is called Nunes Canal and there is not a big drainage issue there. When the rain falls continuously, then the place floods. We had to pick the crops that the flood destroy and throw them away,” he said. Other farmers lost pepper and pear plants which they had sowed the previous month before the heavy rainfall.
Farmers from the Upper Pomeroon River are still optimistic that their crops will survive the floods. “Well, we have to wait to see what has been destroyed. I plant pepper, pear, pumpkin and oranges but I will have to wait for a little more time to see if I lose anything. I’m hoping that even if my things rot, it wouldn’t be plenty because I usually sell these things on the market,” one woman from Upper Pomeroon said.
Heavy rainfalls and high tides in the Pomeroon caused flooding over the past two weeks but the water has receded.
