Dear Editor,
As I travelled to the southern side of Region Two I saw machines and pumps busy working to drain off the rainwater from villages and rice fields. These trenches and canals were clogged up for years and no one from the regional administration paid heed to them or even attempted to clean them, although several drain diggers were bought into the region. I can still see yards flooded in Columbia, Reliance and Queenstown, while some burial grounds have sunk and the tombs cannot be seen.
I saw two Hymacs busy clearing the Capoey Canal leading to the lake. This had been clogged up for years and now they were trying to save acres of young rice which had been lately broadcast in the fields. I saw a machine now clearing the outfall channel leading to the sea there too. At Mainstay, a machine was also clearing the trench leading to the pump at the outfall channel. As I travelled further to the south of the region, I saw many clogged up trenches along the roadside, especially in Queenstown, Perseverance and Cullen.
Some villages still remained under water hoping for the sun to shine; weather forecasting has never been so outdated in this part of the region. We can no longer rely on the signs of rain and sun that we used in the past to help predict flooding and prepare for it. We have too many officers in this region sitting behind their desks; the Drainage and Irrigation Department malfunctions and operates inefficiently because of maladministration and does not correct some minor faults at the outfall channels, thus causing flooding whenever the rain falls. The pumps installed at all outfall channels are operating below capacity to discharge the water in a timely manner.
Whenever the rain falls, water from the rice and farming areas is released into the housing areas causing flooding there. These canals and trenches lead to the sea defence kokers which need to be kept clean and maintained at all times by the regional administration, NDCs and the municipality. After these drainage and irrigation canals are cleaned they are not maintained, and they are left to be clogged up for months or years. While passing with your car you can smell the stagnant water which becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Many public buildings, community centres and school compounds were flooded. The average daily discharge of rain is expected to increase, resulting in more floods. There is some indication that there will be a recurrence of rainy weather conditions in November, December and January. This observation is based on the rains and the meteorological officers attached to the Ministry of Agriculture. Technology offers a solution to help weather forecasting, but our weather monitoring network in Guyana is 20 times weaker than the minimum level recommended by the world meteorological organization (WMO).
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
