Billions of dollars pumped into flood response
President Irfaan Ali
President Irfaan Ali

WITHIN the past three months, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has expended billions of dollars to respond to the ongoing floods which, in June, was officially declared a national level two disaster. Almost immediately after the floods started, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, and other government officials began executing a series of emergency flood- relief outreaches across the entire country. This has since seen the distribution of more than 80,000 food hampers, 45,000 cleaning hampers, and more than 5,000 medical kits across all ten administrative regions. Approximately 52,000 households have been affected in 300 communities nationwide. In areas where persons were unable to stay in their homes due to the floods, shelters were set up and extensive support mechanisms were put in place to assist affected farmers, and help them to salvage as much of their produce and/or animals as possible.
The Ministry of Agriculture also initiated around-the-clock drainage and irrigation remedies which prevented even more devastation caused by flooding.
Simultaneously, the Ministry of Public Works rolled out a programme to conduct emergency repairs to a number of public infrastructure such as roads, bridges and culverts that were badly damaged due to the floods.

Since the floods started in May, the government has rolled out a massive flood relief response

President Ali, during his outreaches, had maintained that the government’s flood- relief efforts will not only address the urgent needs of those affected, but also their medium and long-term concerns as well. As the floodwaters started to recede, President Ali announced cash grants for flood-affected citizens, to the tune of $7.8 billion.
In a broadcast message on Saturday, the Head of State said that the assistance being given will cover various categories of households and farmers, and will not exceed a ceiling of $10 million per individual. “In these categories, farmers within the context of a homestead would receive $100,000 each; those with kitchen gardens will receive $50,000 each, and households excluding homestead and kitchen garden will receive 50,000 each,” he noted. “The combined assistance to homestead farmers, kitchen gardens and households for these categories will be in excess of $3.5 billion,” the President related. He noted too that the rains have had a significant impact on the rice sector, with approximately 50,000 acres and 2,000 farmers being directly affected. As a result, support will be given to rice farmers on a categorised basis.

“For rice that was ready to harvest but lost in the floods, $80,000 per acre would be given to those farmers. For rice sown and lost in the autumn crop, these farmers will receive $65,000 per acre. For land that was completely prepared but was not sown, $45,000 per acre would be given to these farmers,” President Ali specified.
In addition to this, he said that 60,000 bags of seed paddy would also be made available for rice farmers.
“The combined assistance in these four categories would be in excess of $3.2 billion,” Dr. Ali noted.
He said that support for the livestock industry will also be given, based on categories of subsistence farmers, small farmers, medium farmers, and large-scale farmers. So far, in excess of 2,000 livestock farmers have been affected.

“In total, these four categories will benefit from in excess of $600 million direct transfers,” the President added.
Added to these direct transfers, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) will be assisting through “genetic improvements,” as well as drainage and irrigation works, technical support, and extension services to the approximate value of $500 million.
The President said that emphasis would also be placed on continuing infrastructural works such as the rebuilding of dams, farm-to-market access roads, hinterland roads, mining roads, community roads, drainage systems, and other infrastructure that were destroyed or faced deterioration as a result of the floods.
“I am aware that this assistance will go a long way in bringing relief. However, it can never compensate for the emotional and social loss which I saw and experienced first-hand,” Dr. Ali acknowledged.

An initial assessment shows the agriculture sector being most affected by the disaster, with some 92,000 acres of farm and farmlands completely affected, and approximately $23 billion or more in loss of production. The sugar industry suffered estimated losses of more than $1.5 billion in the fields, while more than 50 per cent of mining operations have been affected.
“Damage to the Forestry Sector, loss of production and damage to equipment are estimated at in excess of $8 billion,” Dr. Ali added.
Added to all of the aforementioned measures, the government has also initiated engagements with various banking and lending institutions so as to ensure that flood-affected residents are not pressured into repayment of loans and debts. During a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Senior Minister in the Office of the President, with responsibility for finance, Dr Ashni Singh, related that all of the financial institutions have committed to being lenient with their clients who have suffered losses and inconveniences due to the floods.
Many of the affected Guyanese have since lauded the government’s comprehensive flood response efforts, and have expressed eagerness to recover and rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

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