Heavy and continuous rainfall over the past few days has resulted in several farming and residential areas in Charity, Pomeroon-Supenaam, Region Two, being affected by flooding.
A Ministry of Agriculture release yesterday stated that as a result, Prime Minister Mark Phillips and Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha visited several of the affected communities to gain a firsthand look at the extent of the flooding. They were accompanied by several senior officers of the Ministry of Agriculture, and other Regional officials.
Tage Corlet, a resident whose yard is currently flooded, spoke to the officials about her concerns regarding the condition of the drainage structure which is close to her residence. This water gotta go down. I think this koker is too deep. If it was shallow, from the time this water come here all woulda go down. When the koker them too deep it can’t pull. Them does take people from far to come and do these projects. We need people who know the area to at least work with these people,” Corlet said.
Mustapha in turn assured the resident that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) will be working along with the local bodies to put temporary measures in place to drain the affected areas. “We’ll be moving one of our mobile pumps from Windsor Castle to Charity North to assist with the flooding in the area.
I’ve also asked the NDIA to come up with a long term plan so that we can avoid these types of occurrences. Officers from NAREI, [Guyana Livestock Development Authority] GLDA, and the [Guyana Rice Development Board] GRDB, will also be conducting assessments of the losses that farmers would’ve suffered. Based on those assessments, we’ll then extend assistance to the farmers who would’ve suffered losses in the form of planting material, seeds, fertilizers, etc.,” Mustapha offered.
He also disclosed that teams from the Region and the Ministry have been instructed to monitor the affected areas in the Pomeroon. “There is another issue in the Pomeroon and I’ve asked the NDC to monitor that area and give us feedback on a regular basis. A number of areas there are under water and so we need our Regional officials to work with us. We’ll also be sending teams there to do an assessment of the losses,” Mustapha said.
Meanwhile PM Phillips, said that based on the assessment of the flooded area, there is a lot of work to be done. He also urged persons to desist from littering as it was observed that many of the drainage structures were filled with garbage. “There is a lot that needs to be done. Not only in terms of clearing the outfalls and the kokers and pumping the water off, but there is also a lot of garbage that has built up over the years blocking the outfalls in those areas.”
The team also visited the primary commercial zone in Charity, where several businesses were also visibly affected by flood waters. They observed that a number of stalls were constructed over the drains which made it difficult to have them cleared Regional officials in the delegation pointed out that during the latter part of last year, efforts were made to have the drainage network in Charity desilted. Mustapha then called on the Town Council to collaborate with the persons occupying these structures “to devise a system to ensure much needed drainage works can be executed,” the release added.
