Water levels at Moraikobai and along the Mahaicony Creek in Region Five are rising again.
“Presently the water is rising again and the low-lying families are in a kind of threat,” Toshao of Moraikobai, Colin Adrian explained to Stabroek News yesterday.
He added that while there had been several cases of diarrhoea and fever, the people are coping and there has not been any major disease outbreaks.
While the water continues to rise due to the rainfall and water coming down from the backlands, Adrian noted that as it stands, there isn’t much that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) and Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary-Agricultural Development Authority (MMA-ADA) can do to get rid of the floodwater. “I doubt they can do anything but wait until the water recedes and it’s a lot of water coming down and presently we are in the danger line,” he added.
The high water at Moraikobai in the upper reaches of the Mahaicony portends flooding in lower parts of the river.
Adrian said that while they are presently looking for contributions as their work has been stagnated, they are still thankful for the assistance that the government has given them over the last month. “The forest is still soak up and the tractors cannot still get to the location to extract our materials and we are still clustered up. We are still not a 100% satisfied but we are thankful and welcome all contributions,” Adrian said.
Yesterday, Lowlayswar Shrikant, a farmer from Gordon Table, lower down in the creek, explained that while the water went down several inches over the past few days, it had risen more than it went down due to the amount of rainfall during the nights.
He said he has not been able to assess his total losses as yet and stressed that he would not be able to until the water completely recedes. Shrikant also explained that one of the most threatening issues that the residents face is access to drinking water.
“We don’t get water through pipes and we would usually use the creek water but now that it’s all dirty we can’t and we have to go out on the road and buy bottle water,” he said, stating that some persons are even forced to use the creek water.
Shrikant said that the previous administration had promised the area a well for many years but it never came to fruition.
In addition to the lack of potable water and flooded lands, the dam to access the rice lands remains in a deplorable state and rice farmers are facing increasing difficulties in accessing their farms. They stand to lose almost 1,000 acres of rice.
Stabroek News had reported for the last month that all over Region Five was experiencing flooding, owing to excess water flowing down the Mahaicony River. Areas such as Trafalgar, Lovely Lass, Number 29, 30 and 31 villages were inundated, mostly because the main koker and channel in Trafalgar were blocked and the water from the excess rainfall flowing down the river was unable to exit to the sea. Moraikobai and areas in the Mahaicony Creek were experiencing heavy flooding due to the rainfall and drainage issues.
The NDIA in collaboration with the MMA-ADA had sent several excavators and pumps around the region to aid with drainage. A koker was opened at Mora Point to let the water flow out to the Mahaicony irrigation channels but this had not helped much since the rain had not stopped.
