MINISTER of State, Mr Joseph Harmon has said that farmers affected by the flooding caused by heavy downpour late Wednesday night and yesterday morning will receive relief from the government.Minister Harmon gave the assurance yesterday evening following the conclusion of a Cabinet meeting held at the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), next to Camp Ayangana, Georgetown.
“Farmers are really the bread basket of the nation, and we have to pay careful attention to our farmers,” the Minister of State said, pointing out that from an air reconnaissance conducted yesterday, the Administration has a fair sense of the extent of the floods and where it needs to go.
Today, he said, Government technical officers will be deployed to critically affected areas to meet with farmers, listen to their concerns, and see what sort of help can be dispensed.
From reports, the most affected areas are Canals Number One and Two on the West Bank Demerara; and in the areas of Boerasirie, Uitvlugt, Leonora and Naamryck in Region 3 (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).
In Region 4 (Demerara-Mahaica), the Capital City of Georgetown has been flooded, and areas between Ogle and Buxton on the East Coast Demerara have been mostly affected.
“We will also be paying attention to the level of water in the conservancy, and the integrity of the dams. We are working in areas that have been identified, but that is not to say that there are other areas that would not receive our attention,” Minister Harmon told the Guyana Chronicle.

MOST AFFECTED
But for now, he said, focus will be placed on addressing the needs of farmers most affected and in need of urgent attention.
The Minister of State also pointed out that the government will have to make a proper assessment of what is needed before determining what form of assistance will be given to farmers.
“We are a resilient people, and they (farmers) do not all just look for hand-outs. And so, what we will do is that we will work with these farmers to see how best we can deal with their situation. We would not want to say now this is what we will do and wouldn’t do, but we will have to work with them to see how best we can alleviate that problem which they have,” Harmon said.
Prime Minister, Mr Moses Nagamootoo, who also spoke with the Guyana Chronicle, said the heavy flooding experienced could have been less, had the former People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Administration effected repairs to kokers and proper service to pumps.
The flooding, he contended, is as a result of poor management by the PPP, and an accumulation of their neglect over the years.

RELIEF
But, the Prime Minister said, the government is closely monitoring the situation, and relief will be given to those mostly affected.
“There is hope that we can take care of the basic needs of people. Where we have people who need shelter, we will look after that. Where there is need for emergency food supplies, we will look after that. We will make sure people have water, and, above all, we will make sure that farmers have some relief in terms of their flooded out farms. We will try to address all these things,” he told the Guyana Chronicle.
Minister of Agriculture, Mr Noel Holder said Regions 2 (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and 3 have been mostly affected by the flooding, with some areas in Region 5 (Mahaica-Berbice) also being affected.
He also pointed out that from information received thus far, the losses suffered by farmers are not humongous.
Guyana in the past 24 hours has experienced heavy rainfall, reaching record-breaking levels. From all reports, some eight inches of rainfall has been recorded. This is way above the level the country’s drainage system can handle.
Our centuries-old drainage system, built by the Dutch, has the capacity to drain 2.5 inches of rainfall in a period of 24 hours.

By Tajeram Mohabir