RESIDENTS of the Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) community of Tapakuma are calling on the Government to save thousands of acres of farmlands which are under threat of destruction due to water shortage and drought.

Guyana Chronicle Essequibo correspondent Mohammed Khan said the situation at Tapakuma, located some 30 miles from the Anna Regina Public Road, is critical, and more than 4000 persons, representing 400 households, are suffering as a result of the water shortage.

Khan said the people at Tapakuma depend heavily on a nearby creek and on the Pomeroon River for all their potable water needs, and that in addition to some 35 acres of land being cultivated by the Women’s Agricultural Group, some ten acres of cassava and 3500 acres of rice are also under threat.

Crops at risk, besides cassava and rice, include plantains, pineapples, bananas, cucumbers, nuts, pumpkins and other fruits and vegetables; some of these are in their bearing stages while others are expected to be ready by April next year.

Farming is the main economic activity in the community, affected by the water shortage over three weeks now. The community also has a school, a health and craft centre, and a factory producing cassava bread, cassareep, and pineapple chunks commercially.

The Guyana Chronicle understands that, some weeks ago, water from the Tapakuma Lake was released into the main canal to assist with the rice crop; but in order for water to reach the other farms, the ‘Dawa’ pump, which has been down since September, will have to be urgently repaired.
“To get water, the pump has to pump water from the Pomeroon River,” Khan said, adding that the Government needs to either see about repairing the ‘Dawa’ pump, or provide other pumps to save the commercial crops.

NO DRINKING WATER
“There is no drinking water; Pomeroon River is ten miles away,” Khan said. And the four small solar panels currently being used are not enough to generate the amount of electricity needed to fill the 150-foot-deep pit that residents have dug so they could have water for drinking and other purposes.

Residents contend that if the situation is not rectified in a timely manner, crops expected to be ready for reaping early next year will be wiped out.

“If they do not start pumping from Dawa,” Khan warned, “Pomeroon River will run salt, and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority will pump salt water into the lake.”

And should this happen, he said, rice farmers will end up in a situation in which cultivated crops would eventually die out.

Residents are also complaining that the cost of transportation from Tapakuma has now risen to $12,000 per passenger because of the terrible state of the roads.

Khan said buses are now using the ‘Lake Mainstay’ road, which is also in a bad state. Residents are seeking the Government’s help to repair a road at ‘Highpoint’, which, if used, would shorten the distance between Anna Regina and Tapakuma, and constitute a cheaper route of travel.