Some areas in Region Five remain under water
Seventy-six-year-old Ramcharran entering his heavily-flooded yard (Delano Williams photo)
Seventy-six-year-old Ramcharran entering his heavily-flooded yard (Delano Williams photo)

-as Gov’t continues efforts to repair sections of the Mahaicony sea defence

RESIDENTS, in communities along the coast of Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), are still affected by flooding which was caused by a breach in the sea defence at Dantzig owing to the high tide.

Doctor in charge of the Carlton Hall Health Centre, Dr. Tazim Bacchus and his staff (Delano Williams photo)

The spring tides did not make it easy for the persons who are working to address the breach, but work continued on Tuesday. “The damage was done… they have been working to construct a dam and repair the area where the breach is, but water still coming in,” said a distressed newspaper vendor, Kamani Mahadeo in an invited comment, on Tuesday.

Mahadeo, a resident of Glazier’s Lust, said she lost everything within the space of three days because the water rose higher than expected. She totalled her losses at over $500,000. Mahadeo’s entire bottom flat and yard are inundated with water up to her ankle.
“All my sheep, rabbits and everything died out because they came out of the water and went on the road…so they got hit down,” said Mahadeo. Her plight was similar to that of persons who reside in Rebecca’s Lust, Fairfield, Harmony Hall, Broom’s Hall and a few other communities.

A girl building a walkway to cope with the inundation (Delano Williams photo)

Pensioner, Desiree Percival, said for the past three days she has been struggling to get around her yard and get things done. “It is very hard for me to deal with… all my fowl them dead and so… the flood affecting us bad and the water has been going and coming all the time, but we didn’t expect it to come so high this time,” said Percival.
Other elderly persons from Rebecca’s Lust echoed the sentiments of Percival, noting that they are praying for a solution soon because if it continues they will have to consider alternatives.

A rice farmer from Glazier’s Lust, Karsarnauth Doodnauth is also considering alternatives since he said he had to make it through high levels of water just to get his work done. The farmer said he lost 10 cows and 10 acres of rice since the flooding started.

Excavator operators trying to mitigate the flooding in the communities along Region Five (Delano Williams photo)

Seventy-six-year-old, Ramcharran (only name given), said he fell ill a few days ago because of the water, but has been recovering well. Despite being ill, he still made his way through the water to get his work done. Considering the existing conditions in the flood-affected communities, persons need to be mindful of certain illnesses, said the Doctor in charge of the Carlton Hall Health Centre, Dr. Tazim Bacchus in an invited comment.
“There has been nothing significant as yet, but we saw some people coming in with rashes, however, there has not been anything strange,” said Dr. Bacchus.

He said some of the symptoms and ailments that they are keeping an eye out for are rashes with fever, leptospirosis, cholera and any symptom of diarrhea. The health centre will also be on the lookout for certain mosquito-borne illnesses.

Workers installing the temporary door at the Stewartville sluice (Elvin Croker photo)

In order to ensure that persons stay in good health during the flooding, the Doctor said the region had sent out community health workers to speak with residents about proper hygiene and other healthy practices. Dr. Bacchus advised residents to desist from consuming the normal pipe water and use bottled water instead. If pipe water is to be used, he advised persons to add bleach to it before consumption.

He also encouraged persons to use protective gears such as long boots and gloves when going into flooded parts of their yard. Persons, who are feeling ill, were encouraged to visit the health centre in order to be treated early.

As work continues on the health and safety aspect, Government is also working to ensure that the flood is mitigated. Guyana Chronicle reported on Saturday that emergency works are being conducted at heavily-eroded and breached sections of the Mahaicony sea defence.

The works were aimed at lessening the impact of the current high tide. Executing these emergency flood protection works is the Sea and River Defence Department which has taken note of the sections of sea defences impacted by the cyclic erosion of the foreshore and natural depletion of the mangrove forest.
In a release on Thursday, the ministry reported that significant overtopping had been occurring at the sea defence embankment within a 3.0 kilometres stretch of shoreline between Fairfield and Dantzig.

“The Ministry of Finance recently approved a contingency allocation to support the efforts of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure in executing sea defence construction works at Mahaicony. These resources are being utilised to engage multiple contractors in key construction materials supplies and works execution contracts which will be executed concurrently to achieve faster implementation,” the ministry indicated.

The ministry is working to reinstate sections of the earthen embankment by constructing rock armour facing on the seaward slope as an erosion control measure. The medium-term solution works are being undertaken by A and S General Contractors Inc. which is working at the Fairfield and Broomhall area and BK International Inc. which is working at the Dantzig area.

Four other contractors have been engaged to simultaneously deliver boulders to the worksites along the Mahaicony foreshore by barge, and with trucks via the ECD Highway.
Compromised access dams and the deterioration of the sea defence embankment have increased the difficulty of transporting construction materials.
The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) had also installed three mobile pumps at Cottage and Dantzig to discharge excess water from the Bellamy Canal into the Atlantic Ocean, which prevents the intrusion of salt water onto adjacent agriculture lands.
Sluice door damaged

Meanwhile, as Government worked to fix one problem, it had to deal with another in Stewartville on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD), where a sluice door was damaged because of the high tides. Water was flowing rapidly through the damaged part of the door, but quick work by the relevant authorities ensured that communities were not flooded.

A reliable source told the Guyana Chronicle that a temporary door is being installed to ensure that water does not rush through during the next high tide. The source said construction of a permanent door will begin shortly.
Residents of the community were pleased with the remedial work that was done and said that a major catastrophe was averted.

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