A breach in a dam at Strath Campbell, Mahaicony has flooded acres of land and because of the condition of the area heavy vehicles can’t be transported immediately to fix it.
Region Five Chairman Vickchand Ramphal told Stabroek News yesterday that while he is aware of the issue the farmers and residents are facing, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) and the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary-Agricultural Development Authority (MMA-ADA) have been informed but are unable to send any assistance as the weather does not permit the vehicles to be transported to the area.
“I don’t really know much but farmers told me there is some overtopping on the embankment and the MMA and NDIA was informed about it and they said that the present weather conditions will not allow an excavator to go in there to do any work,” Ramphal told Stabroek News, stating that the region does not have the resources, in terms of equipment, to assist the farmers and is depending on the NDIA and MMA to provide such.
“So far we have been in constant communication with both agencies and the NDIA promised to send a few excavators and once we get all of them I think we will be able to control, maybe not fully, but help out and make the situation better,” Ramphal added.
This development comes just weeks after farmers had been battling the El Nino drought. Farmers had been forced to use pumps to get water onto their lands and now they have to employ pumps to get water off their lands. However, because of the magnitude of the high tides, the water overtopping is greater than it has been in a while and as such farmers using just one pump will not be enough to clear their lands of the water. If the water is not cleared by a certain time they stand to lose their crops.
