…major losses suffered by residents, poultry farmers

A NUMBER of villages between Number 53 and Number 60 in East Berbice- Corentyne have been inundated by heavy rainfall on Saturday morning.

In some communities water was waist high and residents said they blame poor drainage and an inoperative sluice in the communities for the flooding.

The main drainage canal for the villages is the #52 canal which has a two-door sluice. According to residents, the sluice was not opened
during the last low tide and the canal was filled to capacity; with the heavy downpour that lasted for about two  hours in the wee hours of Saturday morning, all the internal drains were filled and overtopped, causing the water to flow into the yards and lower flats of houses.

Many residents were unaware that their homes were flooded until daybreak, which resulted in damage to their properties, appliances, groceries, furniture and livestock.

According to Rasheed Latif, 59, he has a plot of land aback   Number 57 Village where he rears thousands of chickens; he said around 05:00 hrs. on Saturday he arrived at the farm and was met with the most horrific sight.

“When I reach I could not tell the dam from the trench and the water was knee-deep into the yard. I watched as thousands of chickens, baby chicks and big ones float up dead in the pens. All three pens were flooded with water; all I could do was call my wife and cried to see our labour and investment go down the drain.”

He added as help arrived he managed to save only a few hundred chickens out of the 5000 plus he had that were between three to six weeks old. The loss was estimated at $4M, including some 1500 baby chicks that were only put in a few days ago; 2100 chickens  at eight weeks old that
were to be sold later in the day, plus an additional 200 that were six weeks old.

Latif said they had suffered a similar fate in 2011 when they lost millions also. After the loss then they filled the land and moved the pens to a higher lot. He noted that they complained several times to the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) about the dumping of garbage on the lands opposite them which caused the drains to be blocked; their complaints however fell on deaf ears, Now that the damage has been done, he is seeking assistance to help continue his business and wonders if the NDC would now pay attention to his complaints.

A resident of Number 55 Village, Chanradai Sukhra, 60, related that he suffered major losses, especially to his kitchen and grocery items.

“All the grocery in the kitchen get wet; I had nothing to cook,them chairs and rug and everything damage, me just had to throw it away.”

He said his family and grandchildren had to stay in the upper flat throughout the day as they could not come down in the filthy water.