THE farming community of Linden-West Watooka has been affected by minor flooding caused by heavy rains, but farmers are happy that the situation has not been as bad as in previous years when they counted their losses in the thousands.
The last catastrophic flooding to occur in West Watooka was in January and since then efforts to remedy the situation have proven successful. Farmers have lauded the Regional Administration and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), for collaborating to alleviate the many floods that plagued the community for years. The slight flooding that has occurred over the past few days were revealed to be on the low farm lands and farmers said that the losses are very little.

Pierce Ifill, one of the most established farmers in West Watooka said that while parts of his farm have been flooded, he is happy that the situation has not worsened and is thankful for the clean drains and the canals. “Is because of the heavy rain fall that we had, the low part of the farm has been flooded, only during the heavy rains but not for all of the areas, the canals are cleaned, is just because of the heavy rains that part was flood, the area has good drainage, the drains system is good right now so the water is draining very good,” Ifill said.
Another farmer who identified himself as ‘Farmer’ said that this is the first time in many years the situation has been under control despite the heavy rainfalls Linden has been experiencing. “Yes I cannot complain, this lil flooding here is because of the heavy rain but before it was worse and ya can’t get perfection, since them man come and clean them drains and so, it really help we cuz I was hasty hasty cuz I lose a lot January deh but them man come and wuk up and things far better,” the West Watooka farmer said.
In January, the NDIA for the first time deployed a team to Linden to execute significant drainage and irrigation works in the region. This was done following revelations of terrible flooding and erosion affecting West Watooka and other surrounding communities on the Wismar shore. About two months ago, the revetment that had collapsed by the Demerara River which was also responsible for draining waters out of the communities, was restored by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI). While West Watooka may have been saved from severe flooding, other communities in Linden such as Coomacka and Retrieve have been hard hit.