— Agri. Ministry works to source additional machines, pumps to aid relief efforts

RESIDENTS from several flood-affected areas in Region Five are lauding the efforts put forward by the government, thus far, to alleviate flooding as sections of the country continue to be affected. According to a release, during an outreach on Monday to several affected areas in the region, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar, Mustapha met with residents and assured them that government is working tirelessly to get the situation at hand under control. Krishendat Manickchand, a farmer from along the Mahaicony River, said that the efforts of the government have not gone unnoticed. “I don’t think there’s a problem at the government level. Initially, we’ve had excessive rainfall. The result of that is that we have flooding, and the result of the flooding is that persons have been losing crops and livestock. The government’s response so far is commendable. They’ve been out meeting with residents across the country, sharing hampers and using excavators to help secure the existing infrastructure. As the tide rises, we are seeing more flooding. I know that they are under tremendous pressure because rain is falling all across the country on a daily basis.

The flooding cannot be seen as a human error,” Mr. Manickchand said. While speaking with affected residents and farmers, Minister Mustapha reassured them that they would also benefit from the same amount of government relief being offered around the country. “I know many of you would’ve lost cash crops and rice while others would’ve lost poultry or have animals in the savannahs that need food. The GLDA has been offering assistance to livestock farmers and today I want to make a commitment that you too will benefit from interventions like those. Persons who lost poultry and other small ruminants will also benefit from assistance after we conduct our assessments. Our officers from NAREI and GRDB will also be conducting assessments once the waters recede and we will be assisting farmers with getting back to the field. We already have preliminary figures and will continue to monitor the situation in both the farming and residential communities,” Minister Mustapha said. He also told residents that the NDIA is currently mobilising additional excavators to assist with building up dams and clearing drains that have been impeding the flow of water to the main channels.

The subject minister further explained that the Ministry is working aggressively to extend help to those who were affected. He also told residents that the immediate aim of the government was to ensure residents have food and that the water recedes.
“The purpose of these outreaches is to see what help we can extend to farmers and residents because many communities are flooded and farmers have lost both crops and livestock. Over the past three days, my officers and I have been visiting affected areas in Regions Six and Five, extending assistance and making several interventions to get the water out of the communities as soon as possible. I’ve visited approximately 20 villages. Drains have been cleared, pumps have been installed, dams are being built up to assist with overtopping. Our engineers are also monitoring the situations at our pumps and sluices to ensure they are working at their full capacity. So far, those interventions have been welcomed by residents and we will continue to put systems in place to bring relief to those that are affected. Some 95 per cent of the interventions made thus far are already in place,” Minister Mustapha said.
Some of the areas visited were Bara Bara, Abary, Pine Ground, Big Baiabo, and Broken Water Land. He also plans to visit a number of other communities in other affected regions during the course of the week.