-millions of dollars in cash crops destroyed

THE Region Six administration is closely monitoring the flooding situation in the Black Bush Polder (BPP), East Berbice-Corentyne, following heavy rainfall.
Regional Chairman, David Armogan, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, related that the situation on the ground from his visit on Monday is very worrying.

“The situation on the ground is bad, water is all over the land and cash crops have been completely flattened. Water is coming from above (rain) and from the back, Canje Creek, due to the heavy rains,” he said.
He said that as a result of this situation, the regulators that normally take water from the creek into the irrigation canals for farmers in BPP have been closed. Additionally, both pumps at Eversham and Number 43 Village are put into operation whenever the sluices are closed, but according to the chairman, these cannot adequately drain the large volume of water that is on the land.

“Because of the distance the water has to travel from to get to the outfalls and into the Atlantic, only two inches of water can be drained in a 24-hour period. One of the days had over five inches of water alone so the water keeps building up whenever it rains and will take some
time to run off the land because is a lot of rain.”

Armogan stated that the residents have expressed their concerns to him. Prime Minister Brigadier (ret’d), Mark Phillips, and Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, were expected to visit the affected areas on Wednesday. The chairman expressed hope that during such a visit, a decision would be made regarding relief for the affected residents.
Continuous heavy rainfall since Sunday has worsened the situation in BPP and has resulted in huge financial losses for both farmers and homeowners.

Several communities, particularly Mibicuri, Zambia and Johanna were left inundated in knee-high water on Monday morning after the main drainage canal in Johanna overtopped its banks due to heavy rainfall and the drainage pump at Eversham was put out of operation for several days after experiencing some mechanical difficulties. The pump has since been fixed and is now operational. When this publication visited the affected area on Monday, an excavator was observed working to seal the breach that was in the vicinity of the Johanna bridge. This would have brought some relief to the residents who are now counting their losses.

Amzad Ally, a cash and cattle farmer of Johanna said his losses are estimated at more than $1million since all his crops which are at various stages of growth are under water.
“This has nothing to do with government. We need help because is one main canal draining this water and it is not enough. They had said they were going to get a separate drainage for Johanna and Yakasuri but nothing yet. The last flood me lose 10 sheep, this one five so far and nah talk about garden cause everybody under water and we need some help. Me done lose over 1 million already,” the farmer said.

Jagdesh Jadoonath 36, of Lot 48 Mibicuri South and his wife, are large scale cash crop farmers. They have given up and are now waiting for the water to recede to return to their lands. They explained that the rainfall over the past week has been heavy but the rain from Sunday into Monday morning has caused the water to rise tremendously and everything has been flooded. “Right now me get celery in picking stage and it duck. With the $600 a pound price, me woulda clear over 1 million dollar…3000 pepper plant damage and me get 5000 head cabbage that completely destroy. All the money for drugs, fertilisers and suh gone down the drain,” he related.

He explained to this publication that whenever the water rose in the past, they would normally pump it into the main canal or to another area but they cannot do this now because the entire area is flooded. “Look them bai a ketch hurrie in my bottom house right now. Me give up, we just gah wait and hope the water nah raise more cause then more damages to house and suh. Me nah even know how me guh start the next crop cause all the money invested gone,” Jadoonath said