THE breach in Conservancy Dam at Airy Hall, Essequibo was sealed on January 1 is holding up, Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said.High water level and saturated land along several villages on the coast, following frequent showers that were experienced on Christmas Day and onward resulted in the breaching of the Conservancy Dam in the Region 2 (Pomeroon/Supenaam) community, which subsequently resulted in flooding of the rice lands in the community.
The dam which was earlier resealed by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) on December 29 was again breached on December 30 last year
The minister also reported that the water has receded from residential areas and from the farms.
He said some farmers, because of where they are in their cultivation phase, have chosen to retain water in their fields.
“Now it is a matter of ensuring that the flooded rice field that had young plants, that we do whatever we can to ensure that those plants recover and we have minimal damage,” he said.
Ramsammy said that duck weed is the biggest challenge; the ministry faces at this point, but that the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and Rice Producers Association (RPA) are working with the farmers to ensure that this does not became a problem that overwhelms the ministry and the farmers.
Over the last several weeks, frequent showers have resulted in several communities facing flash flood and threats to their crops including those in the Pomeroon River.
He also pointed out that the ministry has a programme, whereby it helps the farmers in the Pomeroon to empolder their farms to prevent flooding. Whilst the ministry has been able to complete this work for half the farmers, the work is still ongoing, and as such, some farmers in the Pomeroon face flooding.
There were also some flooding in Region 6 (East Berbice/Corentyne) in the Black Bush Polder area and Central Corentyne. The ministry is responding to these, working in collaboration with the regional authority to bring relief, Ramsammy said.

(GINA)