THE spring tide period has passed and residents, who live in flood-affected communities along the coast of Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), are happy that the water has started to recede.

A few days ago, residents from Glazier’s Lust to Broomhall were affected by flooding which was caused by a breach in the sea defence at Dantzig.
Although government had built dams in the area to avoid flooding, the hide tides augmented the amount of water coming in, causing houses within the space of about eight communities to be inundated.

“I am thankful that the hide tides ended so that now the water could recede and we hope the government could do something to keep the water out,” said, Michelle, a resident of Glazier’s Lust.

Puddles could still be seen in her yard, but the resident was glad that the water was starting to recede. Michelle said her yard was inundated since Sunday so it was a relief to finally see the water receding from the land.

“I see that government is trying to reconstruct the dam, so I am hoping that it could keep out the water for good this time… although I am glad that the water is pulling off, I am still preparing for the high tides which are expected in three weeks,” said Michelle.

The resident said she started to make minor adjustments in her yard to ensure that, if the water reaches her yard, it does not affect them as much as before.
Michelle’s neighbour, Desiree Percival, is also preparing for the next high tide and hopes the government will be able to mitigate the level of flooding in the area.

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 kilometers 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.

The Guyana Chronicle visited the area which was breached and observed that contractors were putting in boulders to hold off water coming onto the land. The contractors said using boulders to mitigate the amount of water coming onto the land is a temporary solution.
One of the workers said the boulders were keeping out some amount of water, but they were being washed away when the tide got higher. He said the spring tide period has ended so they expect that the boulders will hold up for a while.