Residents of Light Town on the East Bank of Berbice will soon benefit from a series of works to improve drainage and mitigate flooding in the area, according to a release yesterday from the Ministry of Agriculture.
This was disclosed by Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha on Saturday during a meeting with residents and farmers at the Light Town Primary School.
During the meeting, the release said that the residents told the Minister that the road drains were blocked and this had contributed to flooding in the area.
Rice farmers who were present at the meeting also told the Minister that they suffered losses as a result of the recent flooding.
Mustapha told residents that a machine will be deployed to the area within a week to commence works on the drains, the release said.
“After listening to everything that was said, I want to make a commitment that within one week, I will ensure a machine will be sent here to clear all the road drains. I want you to form a small committee and the engineer will be back here to work with you. A number of structures and canals have to be built and rehabilitated so this committee will be tasked with indicating which structures need to be done immediately. We need to develop a programme and list the works in order of priority. As soon as I have that I will give instructions for works to commence. The (National Drainage and Irrigation Authority) will also be looking to clear the outfall channels. The pontoon is currently working to clear the Abary outfall. When those works are complete, we will bring the machine here to clear the outfalls in this area,” Mustapha said.
