AHEAD of the May-June rainy season, the Mahaica-Mahaicony, Abary – Agricultural Development Authority (MMA-ADA) and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) are advancing works to reduce the chances of flooding in the agriculture scheme and surrounding areas.

In an agriculture special report on Monday, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said that heavy rainfall cannot be controlled, but the effects of this natural phenomenon could be mitigated.

“Many times, I am very cautious when I talk about rain and flood in our country. We can’t stop flood in Guyana but we can mitigate it, we can ease and we are preparing as an entity to mitigate these floods,” Minister Mustapha said.

He related that in the previous year, several emergency works were done, but farming communities were still severely affected by floods.

Minister Mustapha said: “We would have done a lot of work; we would have executed our budget allocation and we did a number of works after the floods would have receded and we had funds from the government to execute those works.”

He said that this year, several pumps will be procured and placed at flood-prone areas across the country.

“This year, we will be having a number of pumps. Almost 40 pumps will be purchased this year, for pumping and draining capacity, so we will have these pumps placed at vulnerable areas,” the Agriculture Minister related.

He went on to say: “We want drainage on a 24-hour basis rather than do drainage on six to eight hours… so I think we will have the mechanism in place, so we cannot stop the rain because we are seeing real climate change affecting this part of the world.”

The rainfall that Guyana experiences is high intensity and lasts sometimes for over an hour.

In addressing this, Minister Mustapha said: “You have close to five to six inches, sometimes you have 100 millimeters of rainfall and 25 millimeters is one inch and so if you have 100 millimeters that is four inches of rainfall and our drainage system can drain one and a half inch of water in a 24-hour period… so you could see the challenge that we are having.”

He said that, as the rainy season draws closer, the ministry will continue to engage all stakeholders to ensure that all systems are in place to mitigate the effects of torrential rainfalls.

“We will continue to work with all stakeholders; we will make provisions for all these pumps to be placed at vulnerable areas and we will ensure that the structures are in place in those areas,” Minister Mustapha said.

Several regions were adversely affected by floodwaters, as the country grappled with the May-June rainy season last year.

Owing to the situation, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, had declared Guyana to be in a state of disaster. In his proclamation, the Head of State had said that a total of 28,228 households were affected by flooding, some with water entering their homes, domestic animals and livestock in distress, or farmlands inundated.

The government, in response, had expended billions of dollars on various interventions ranging from relief grants to hampers.

This year, as a measure of caution, major investments are slated for the further advancement of Guyana’s drainage and irrigation sector. Specifically, the government has set aside $13 billion for drainage and irrigation works this year.

“Now more than ever before, effective drainage and irrigation infrastructure design, construction and maintenance, are required to prevent perilous consequences… our government will continue to strengthen the drainage and irrigation network across all regions,” Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, had said.