The regional administration of Region Six has estimated that over $75 million is needed to finance the necessary repairs to the region’s dams that were either damaged or destroyed by recent devastating flooding, which is still ongoing in some parts of the country.
Regional Chairman David Armogan, who was speaking at the region’s statutory meeting last Thursday, said, “All agricultural dams are in very, very bad state and that is why persons are not going into the cultivation using the cultivation dams. They are using the water ways and boats to get to the back area.”
According to him, based on the regional administration’s estimate, over $75 million will be needed to repair the dams. “So we have to see government to get help and see where we can get that money….”
Armogan disclosed that some farmers have indicated to him that they are ready to reap and so they will need to use the dams in a few weeks. “So once they are ready to reap it’s not going to be easy to bring the produce out with boat so we have to look to see how we can do these dams very quickly,” he added.
Armogan added that another issue is that the rain is not easing up to facilitate the start of any sort of rehabilitation works, “and so I don’t know how we are going to be able to tackle this but we have to look very quickly to see how we are going to repair these dams.”
“It’s a very delicate situation. It’s a very challenging situation. So, we hope to get all of this sorted out very, very quickly,” he added.
Meanwhile, Armogan, who chairs the region’s Agriculture Committee, also revealed that a total of 1,670 acres of rice crops could not be harvested as a result of the flooding, while there were 10,359 acres of sown rice “and so this crop most likely will be reduced to about 44,000 acres instead of the usual 62,000 acres that we are accustomed to on a crop by crop basis… So about 18,000 acres may well be out of cultivation for this crop.”
He pointed out, that the area which suffered the most was the 52 to 74 Corentyne since by the time farmers there were able to harvest “it was late to get back sowing again and then the rains came so the entire system got thrown out.”
He then added that in the Crabwood Creek area, which was affected to some extent, farmers want about 13,400 rods of dams to be done so as to return to cultivation.
Armogan stressed that a decrease in yield is also expected due to the harsh conditions the farmers were forced to plant in due to the flooding. He added that most farmers whose cash crops were wiped out as a result of the flood have already replanted. He said while produce in the markets is expensive, it is hoped that once new produce hits the markets the prices will return to normal.
Meanwhile, Armogan also mentioned that over 100 tractor operators were hired to pump water out of the residential and other areas in the region during the flood.
