…  focus shifts to Mahaica, Mahaicony and Abary areas “I WANT to assure all Guyanese that there has been no breach nor overtopping of the East Demerara Water Conservancy dam”, Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy confirmed during a visit to the conservancy and the Maduni sluice yesterday. The minister, accompanied by CEO of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority, Lionel Wordsworth, and other officials from the ministry, told reporters, “government continues to monitor the level of the conservancy and the dams”.
Wordsworth and a NDIA team flew over the conservancy on Thursday, confirming that no breach nor overtopping had occurred.
With no significant rainfall over the last few days, and the outlook for the remainder of the week indicating that rainfall will be minimal, it is expected that the waters will drain off the land rapidly.
The forecast for the next 72 hours indicates that the maximum rainfall likely to occur will not be more than 35 millimetres per day in some areas. Meanwhile, in other areas, the rainfall will be less than 15 millimetres. This will allow the waters to drain off the land, especially in areas on the East Coast of Demerara. According to Ramsammy, he is hoping that by today some 80 percent of the water will drain off the land.
He said the number one priority at the moment is the Mahaica, Mahaicony and Abary areas, in which the water level is rising, especially Mahaicony.
“While the Mahaica area is under control, the water at Mahaicony remains on the land. We are hoping that with the good weather, the Maduni sluice will be closed; once this is done, and water keeps moving to the Atlantic, it should avert major disaster for the area”, Ramsammy told the media.
While the emphasis was placed over the past few days on getting the pumps and sluices operational countrywide, it will now shift to the three areas on the East Coast of Demerara, along with Pomeroon and Canals Polders 1 and 2. Central Government stands committed to exploring additional interventions to assist in bringing back the flooded areas to normalcy, according to the minister.
With regard to the losses suffered by farmers, he said though they are significant, the government will not depart from its recovery efforts as practised over the years whenever similar situations obtained.
Ramsammy explained that the drainage and irrigation works carried out over the years have averted a major disaster as a result of the heavy rainfall
“If this amount of rain had fallen years ago, the Conservancy would have overtopped, he said.