-Agriculture Minister calls on farmers to employ climate-smart agricultural practices to reduce vulnerability
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud accompanied by People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Presidential Candidate Donald Ramotar, yesterday visited Aishalton and Lethem, Region 9, where they re-affirmed the administration’s commitment to doing all that is necessary to cushion the blow to their livelihoods as a result of the heavy inundation caused by excessive rainfall over the past few days. Extensive rainfall over the past few weeks in Northern Brazil and in particular, the state of Roraima, has caused the water levels to rise to dangerous levels causing the Rio Bronco, Rio Negro, Takutu and the Ireng Rivers to overspill their banks.
Working closely with the regional administration and other organisations, Central Government’s timely response has led to several shelters being set up to accommodate affected families and ensure availability of adequate supplies of food and drinking water.
Farmers in Aishalton complained bitterly about the losses they are currently suffering as a result of their farms being inundated.
“All our cassava, which is our staple, and our ground provision are rotting, we are trying our best to save as much as we can, but it’s very difficult at this time,” one farmer lamented.
Minister Persaud highlighted if emergency steps are not taken, then food supplies can be threatened.
To this end, mills to assist in the processing of cassava into farine, large containers to store farine, and water purification tablets, as requested by the residents, will be freighted into the community as early as tomorrow (today). These items are in addition to a quantity of food supplies that were handed over to them yesterday.
Additionally, an officer from the Agriculture Ministry has since been deployed to assist farmers with regard to technical agricultural support.
“Not only do we want to save as much as we can, but once the water would have subsided, we want to ensure that we can return to production as quickly as possible, and we will also be sending in planting materials to aid in this regard,” Minister Persaud said.
He urged farmers to explore the possibility of shifting cultivation to other areas, where they will be less vulnerable to heavy rainfall. 
He enlightened them about the idea of “climate-smart” type agriculture, a practice that the ministry has been actively promoting. This means that farmers have to develop a culture whereby the peculiarities of the climate is incorporated into their planning with regard to agricultural food production.         
“This experience should teach us what we should do, where we should plant, the types of crop that should be planted, methods we should use, and the kind of contingencies that we should have; and our government will ensure that you are provided with the type of knowledge and the necessary wherewithal, as we have been doing in the past,” Minister Persaud said.
The presidential candidate, Mr. Donald Ramotar, said that Government is doing its utmost to ensure that affected communities survive this difficult period, and reminded that all the erratic weather conditions that the country has been experiencing is a result of global warming.
“Every one of us has a certain responsibility to ourselves, to our communities, to our country and even to the world at large, to try as much as possible to reduce the amount of carbon we produce,” he said. 
Ramotar called on the residents to use this opportunity to start thinking about ways in which certain practices can be changed since, “we are very fortunate that we have most of our forest intact and therefore we must think very carefully about some of the things that we do in order to protect our environment because it contributes very much to our way of life.”
Some of the farmers requested that the older children be made to assist in securing whatever crops could be salvaged. However, Ramotar said that this issue has to be discussed at the level of the Education Ministry.
Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn is also in the region assisting with emergency arrangements and ensuring smooth operation of all the systems that were put in place to bring relief to the residents. 
An Emergency Management Operations Centre (EMOC) has since been established in Central Lethem, manned by the Office of the Regional Executive Officer, which is responsible for emergency relief interventions across the region.
Thus far, there have been unprecedented collaborative efforts among bodies such as the Civil Defense Commission (CDC), Office of the Prime Minister, Remote Areas Medical (RAM), Guyana Red Cross, and the Ministries of Agriculture, Public Works, and Local Government and Regional Development.
Shelters have been set up at Arapaima Primary School, Culvert City Nursery School, Christian Brethren Church, Nurses Hostel, Education Department, the Community Centre, a building in St. Ignatius and the hospital compound.              
Moreover, there has been no report of deaths or water borne diseases as a result of the flooding so far.