…as Government interventions heighten
AS government continues to monitor the flood situation in Region 9, and have embarked on emergency interventions to safeguard residents’ livelihood, a significant reduction in water levels has been recorded, as Region 9 has received fair weather over the past three days.
Regional Executive Officer, Region 9 Ronald Harsawack, in an update on the situation, said that the Emergency Management Centre (EMC), which was established, has since been able to touch base with the 63 villages across Region 9.
“Over the past 98 hours, water has dramatically decreased, in excess of 14 inches in some areas. What we find happening is because of the topography of Lethem it is obvious that the higher ground would drain first and then the lower parts of Region 9,” he said.
As part of relief efforts, treated water, food commodities, medical supplies and veterinary assistance were provided to the affected.
The REO said that thus far, the Culvert City well has been restored, allowing the team to pump 127,000 gallons of potable water to residents, while 60 gallons of disinfectant was distributed.
Approximately 15, 000 hot meals were distributed to residents in shelters and, according to Harsawack, this will continue until some amount of normalcy is maintained.
“The road remains a challenge for us, as some areas are still under three feet of water and overtopping. There are two contractors on both sides who are mobilized and will try to raise the road as soon as the water recedes enough. However, Minister Robeson Benn has since deployed several engineers to aid the process,” he said.
He added that thus far, all bridges which were swept away from Kurupukari to Lethem have been restored, while work is ongoing on those from Lethem to Aishalton to ensure access returns to normalcy.
With respect to airstrips, all are fully operational and air traffic has resumed, with the exception of the internal one at Sand Creek.
“Government has also deployed in excess of 10 drums of aviation fuel which will assist in the transport process. The water has totally receded from GT&T; the residents, including members of the Guyana Defence Force and Regional Democratic Council had sand-bagged the entire area and three pumps were deployed to extract water,” he said.
Power supply
The entire Lethem area which was powered-off as a result of excess water accumulation in and around generating sets, has since been restored to normalcy, with the exception of the St. Ignatius area which will be restored shortly.
“We are currently producing 16 hours of electricity per day, to ensure that there is an adequate supply of fuel. Effort is also being made to get another 150 drums of fuel into Lethem, after which we will return to 24 hours power supply,” the REO emphasised.
Harsawack reported that the entire business community has resumed operations. Boats have been made available to transport people as well as to be used for patrols by the police.
Four schools, including the Arapaima Primary, St Ignatius Secondary and two nursery schools remain closed as they are still being used as shelters for affected residents. However, plans are moving ahead to have the schools re-opened today.
Agricultural interventions
Extension staff was deployed to the various sub-districts to assist officers who were already on the ground, addressing animal husbandry. Seeds and fertilizers will be given to affected cash crop farmers.
While communities are moving into a recovery mode, efforts have also been made to contain significant losses, through the distribution of equipment.
In the wake of rising flood waters, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud deployed technical teams to the Rupununi and conducted a visit to the region to determine the impact of damage to crops and livestock and commence planning to resume production and provide assistance to farmers. Throughout the affected areas, farmers were advised to harvest what they could, while ministry staff was on hand to give technical advice.
The ministry’s livestock and crops staff are stationed in the area, but additional teams were sent in for assessments and technical support.
Many of the communities cultivate cassava, and last Wednesday, a cassava mill was sent to Aishalton where residents were battling to save cassava and corn from around 100 farms.
The ministry’s rice project in Moco Moco was not affected by the flooding; however just under five percent of the crop is still to be cultivated. The rice was made available to assist in the relief effort. Government also airlifted rice to several communities.
Preliminary assessments indicate that some villages, such as Rupertee, Sand Creek, Baitoon and other communities surrounding Lethem had completely lost their farms.
The ministry deployed agri consignments on Thursday night for Lethem, Annai, Aishalton and other affected areas. These consignments included planting materials, veterinary supplies and chemicals to tackle pests and diseases.
Health interventions
Up to Friday, the Lethem Hospital was dealing with routine cases since there were no outbreaks of diseases. Special interest is being placed on persons affected by malaria. However, there have been no additional cases, and the ministry has been collecting mass blood smears from residents in affected communities.
Earlier in May, the region’s health authorities received a consignment of the regular medication and shortly after, the Regional Health Officer, Dr. Khemraj Khanhai, also took in a special consignment. As a result, there is no shortage of drugs, especially those used for water borne diseases.
Flood kits containing medication for vomiting, dehydration, diarrhoea and other illnesses were sent in to the region. Additionally, medex from Georgetown were dispatched to the area and the Chief medex went in on Saturday. The Lethem hospital has been dealing with several maternity cases and several women have already given birth to healthy babies and they have been discharged.
With the experiences of the 2005 flooding, the Administration has put in place a robust mechanism for early detection of any public health threats caused by natural disasters, especially flooding. Thus far those arrangements have been successful.
Outreach teams visited Tabatinga and St. Ignatius and compiled a list of all near-term pregnant women and women who are due to deliver, and arrangements were made to get those persons closer to the Lethem Hospital in case of emergency.
Environmental officers, along with the medical team, conducted health education talks with residents on water purification and distributed Chlorosol bleach for water purification.
Four doctors and seven medex were deployed to the area, complementing the 59 community health workers who are based in the villages of the region.
Ten gallons of malaton and two spray cans were sent in to the region for vector control purposes. Additional spray cans will be sent to the region shortly since the water level has started receding. Health workers will be spraying villages to ensure residents are not affected by insects and pests, especially mosquitoes which can spread malaria.
‘Worst flood’

Lethem and several other Rupununi villages have for the past week been braving flooding resulting from torrential rainfall in the area. On June 4, it had been reported that overnight, the water rose 20 inches and on Sunday a further 18 inches were recorded. The flooding situation has been compounded by similar patterns of rainfall in neighbouring Brazil, particularly in the State of Roraima, resulting in a massive relocation of Brazilians, damage to crops, livestock, and infrastructure. The Brazilian authorities declared a state of emergency there.
It should be recalled that much of the western half of Regions 8 and 9 are drained by the bordering rivers, the Takatu and the Ireng, which flow into the Rio Branco, Brazil, and downwards to the Amazon. These river basins were over-loaded and overflowed their banks.
In the Rupununi area, flooding for short periods during the raining season is usual, but this year, the flood in Lethem is higher by about two to three feet than it was in the 2005 flood, which was the highest in recent memory.
Roads across the region were affected and several bridges swept away. Traffic was halted along the Linden-Lethem trail after there was damage to several bridges and culverts and some sections of the trail were flooded.
Residents described it as the ‘worst flood’ they have ever seen, and assistance commenced on Sunday, June 5, with several government agencies merging efforts to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in delivery.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds flew into Lethem and met with the regional administration on measures for emergency relief. Head of the Civil Defence Commission Colonel (Rtd) Chabilal Ramsarup also arrived in Lethem as part of that team.
Supplies were taken into the area on an army plane. These included water treatment kits and cots for the shelters that were established. Small generators and pumps were procured in Lethem to assist in providing electricity and water.
An Emergency Response Centre was established at the Regional Guest House in Lethem to coordinate shelters, food and medical supplies, crop and livestock assistance, transportation and communication, among other activities. The response team included technical and field representatives of Government, Civil Defence Commission (CDC), Health, and Public Works, the Business Community in Region Nine, the Guyana Red Cross Society and volunteers.
A 24-hour monitoring station was established in Lethem and the authorities kept constant contact with other communities via radio, while an aircraft was on stand-by in case of emergencies.
Challenges were faced with regard to students sitting the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) examinations. However, the examination papers were taken to Aishalton and Annai and the examinations were written while students from the St. Ignatius Secondary used the Regional Education building in Lethem.
(GINA)