THE Ministry of Agriculture said that an article featured in the Tuesday, February 11, 2020 edition of the Stabroek News titled, “Mahaicony farmers face losses again from spring tides” is misleading to the general public.

In a release, the ministry said while the headline of the article insinuates that there were losses due to flooding, the following quote from the article highlights that there was NO FLOODING in the area; “it was only the eight-foot inland dam that was recently constructed, which prevented the water from surging into residents’ yards.”

According to the ministry, the photograph shown alongside the article shows the secondary earthen dam that was built by the NDIA and the flooded area shown is between the earthen dam and the breached sea defence. This dam was constructed by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) as a secondary defence and creates a holding area for seawater that may come in from the breached sea defence, which is what occurred, the ministry stated.

According to the ministry, since its construction, this secondary defence is being monitored on a daily basis. This is also the seventh spring tide period this dam has withstood. Monday’s tidal levels reached a height of 3.30 meters, but despite this, no overtopping occurred as was again stated in the Stabroek News article. “The inland dam that was built to protect residents between Dantzig and Fairfield was almost scaled by the ocean water yesterday.”