Work to seal breaches at Mahaicony to start this weekend
Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson at one of the damaged sections of the coastline outside of Dantzig
Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson at one of the damaged sections of the coastline outside of Dantzig

By Clifford Stanley

MINISTER of Public Infrastructure Mr. David Patterson told residents of flood-affected areas of Mahaicony in Region 5 (Mahaica/Berbice) that the ministry will start work on sealing the breaches along the battered coastline this weekend against a time lock of twenty-one days to get the work done.

Minister Patterson, who visited the sites of the breaches on Thursday, disclosed that the next spring tide will occur from the 26th of October and his ministry will strive to move a total of fifty tons of boulders as well as materials to block the breaches before this date. The major area of focus will be the stretch of coastline between Dantzig in the west and Fairfield on the east.

The minister told residents that the required funds will be requested from the Ministry of Finance today but his Ministry will move with funds at its disposal from this weekend until such time as that Ministry releases the emergency funds.

Minister Patterson assuring affected residents of urgent action to seal the breach before the next spring tide.

He disclosed that, as of Thursday, areas south of the damaged stretch  were being empoldered by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA)  to prevent further incursions from  the Atlantic and pumps are being installed at both ends of the  stretch of coastline to get the water out of the empoldered areas.

He warned though that the logistics of getting the boulders into the area will be a major challenge that the Ministry and its contractors will have to confront given the poor state of the access dams to the site as well as the turbulent nature of the Atlantic on this stretch which can hamper off-loading of stone brought by barges.

Minister Patterson also reassured residents that Government had agreed  that the Ministry of Agriculture will conduct assessments of losses to crops and livestock as soon as the flood waters recede  with a view to helping  the residents, most of whom are farmers,  to recover from their losses.

The area between Dantzig and Fairfield was hard hit by spring tide on Sunday, September 29th, which created several breaches in the sea dam and flooded households and arable lands in these villages, with the village of Highdam,  Mahaicony hardest hit.
Meanwhile, residents continued to receive relief in the form of food and potable water from Government agencies and voluntary organisations including Food for the Poor yesterday, as well as feed for the surviving livestock from the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA). They, however, spent last night, the fifth night in succession, away from home since the water has not yet fully receded from the residential areas. The affected families are being accommodated by friends and relatives, having declined offers by the government to provide emergency shelters for them.

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