Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha has established a task force to monitor the effects of increased rainfall and above normal high tides in vulnerable areas.
The ministry yesterday announced that given the seriousness of an advisory issued by the Hydromet Department, which warned last week of high waves coupled with high tides, and Guyana’s geographical position, Mustapha believed it was important to have a team in place.
“We are currently experiencing extreme rainfall as part of our November – January rainy period. The Hydromet Department also forecasted high waves and above normal tides. With all this information at hand, it was critical for me to establish this taskforce so that information about what is happening on the ground can be filtered across the sector in a timely manner. I’ve also instructed our regional engineers and other officers to provide daily reports about rainfall in their respective areas and how it is affecting persons and their farming activities,” Mustapha was quoted as saying in a ministry statement.
The ministry explained that the task force, which comprises a number of technical officials from regions Two, Three, Four, Five and Six, is tasked with reporting instances of flooding, heavy rainfall and breaches in sea defences and drainage and irrigation structures along the coast and other low-lying areas. No officials were named.
The minister further disclosed that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) has been working with regional officials to carry out a number of works to ensure drainage channels in a number of farming communities are cleared. This would improve the drainage capacity in these areas should there be any occurrence of flooding, Mustapha said.
Additionally, the Agriculture Ministry’s statement said that a team from the Ministry is currently working with cash crop and livestock farmers who have experienced losses recently as a result of flooding due to heavy rainfall. It said that Mustapha visited flood affected areas in Black Bush Polder and reaffirmed government’s commitment to assisting farmers who were affected. It also said that he instructed officers from Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) and National Agricultural Research and Extension institute (NAREI) to conduct assessments in these areas so that some form of assistance can be given to the farmers. He said that while the government cannot give cash, it can offer assistance in the form of seeds, fertilizers and other planting materials. He assured that the officers will be collecting and verifying information so that the distribution of the materials can start, the statement said.
Climate change
In an effort to improve the country’s drainage capacity in the long term, the Agriculture Ministry said it is working to develop a drainage system that can withstand the impacts of climate change. “As it is now, there are a number of areas that are under water because of the system we currently have. Some areas that do not have gravity flow, we have to use pumps and the pumps take a little longer than the sluice to pull the water. I am working to put a system in place where we can have both pumps and sluices operational. When the tides are low we’ll use the sluice and when the tide is high we’ll use the pumps so that we can have a 24-hour system of draining the land. We know that Guyana is below sea level and that our drainage system is only capable of draining 1 ½ to 2 inches of water in a 24-hour period. So when we record five and six and ten inches of accumulated water because of heavy rains, imagine how long it would take to drain those systems. This is why it is imperative for us to have our drainage system work on a 24-hour basis,” Minister Mustapha said.
The statement said that Minister also announced plans to install a number of additional high capacity pumps to its fleet drainage pumps and therefore develop an overall structure that will improve the country’s current drainage system. “This year we plan to install a number of new pumps across the country since we cannot rely solely on gravity drainage. With climate change having such a great impact on the weather patterns, we have to prepare our system and have it functioning at its fullest capacity in the long term, especially since rainfall has become a lot more unpredictable,” Mustapha said.
Recede
Meanwhile, Humace Oodit, Regional Vice Chairman of Region Two told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that following interventions, water has started to recede in many communities. “This happened because of the heavy rainfall and the tide was high, so we couldn’t get to lift the sluice. So, now that all the sluices are up, we have seen the water receded in all the areas with the exception of Dredge Creek,” Oodit explained, noting that all the pumps and sluices are working properly.
A source told this newspaper that the Charity Housing Scheme, Charity Squatting area and a community called Amazon were badly flooded and while there seemed to be an issue with the pump, officials have clarified that the water was not receding because of garbage build up in a canal. Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine, in a Facebook post, yesterday said that after making checks at several pumps and sluices around the city “all of the sluices’ doors are currently opened to allow for drainage of excess rainfall until about 2pm today.”
Additionally, all pumps were reported to be functioning in Region Four and engineers were monitoring the effects of the rainfall.
While there were no alarming conditions in Region Five, Chairman Vickchand Ramphal said some villages, including Content, Belvedere and De Hoop, which cultivate rice, were threatened. The continuous rainfall and overtopping of the sea defences were the main concerns. But Ramphal said that the situation is being monitored by the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary-Agricultural Development Authority and the NDIA.
He also reported to DPI that the main drainage canal for the area has been compromised by sediment and debris from the sea dams, which obstruct the flow of water. Although there is some flooding in the Mahaica-Mahaicony area, he was optimistic that it will recede as soon as all pumps and sluices are working effectively.
In Region Ten, Regional Chairman, Deron Adams said Silver City, Victory Valley and Sunflower Street, Wismar, are among the areas reporting some flooding. The DPI reported that the NDIA, the Community Development Council and the Mayor’s Office were all briefed on the situation and contracts were awarded to the Council through the NDIA, to manually clear the drains leading to the outfalls at Victory Valley and Sunflower Street.
