RECENTLY, there has been a continuous gush of rains in our country, not only on the coast but also in the hinterland areas. This is very evident and even so, the updates from the National Weather Watch Centre are showing the level of this periodic rain. For those of us in farming, we know that when it rains heavier in the backlands or hinterland, the front lands or coastal regions become more vulnerable to flooding resulting in high levels of water. This has not been the case for the longest while.

Imagine our coast with all this rain fall a few years ago, it would have been flooded. The levels in the rivers along the coastal regions are also rising and this would have caused severe flooding, but due to the efforts of those responsible for this area, we are enjoying an almost dry coast notwithstanding the rains.

I am also the owner of a rice farm and been in this business for “donkey years” and I can tell you that if we were having these rains back in the days we would have had to develop a breed of rice that can only grow in water since we would have been always flooded with these kinds of rains. However, we are lucky that this is not the case and this is all due to the efforts and foresight of our versatile engineers who monitor and design our drainage systems.

Also, the Ministry of Agriculture has placed lots of efforts towards drainage on our coast and this we must be thankful for. If it were not for these works, then we could never stand up against these types of rains we are having due to the climate change we are experiencing today. The effects of climate change are hitting us severely these days and we have to be prepared for it; this is the case in our country today but at the same time, we should not allow this to stop us from developing our drainage and irrigation systems since as far as I am concerned, this could get worse and we always have to keep in preparation mode for these types of events.