– RDC to engage Housing Ministry to assist

RESIDENTS in flood-prone villages in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) are again urged to relocate to higher ground.

Speaking with this newspaper in a recent interview, the region’s chairman, Brian Allicock, said that lands in higher ground have been identified for agriculture and farmers have been advised to utilize these lands during the rainy seasons.

“We have a drone that is taking pictures, we are doing a photography survey by way of using that drone to see the high areas. So, we are advising the farmers in the dry weather to plant crops that [they] are able to have before the rains come and in the rainy season plant on the higher grounds, so we can have continued production,” Allicock said.

Meanwhile, in the residential areas, Allicock disclosed that some persons had received allocations to relocate to higher ground in the past. However, they expressed inability in moving due to lack of finance.
“Mainly in the township, Lethem, we have had that worry, but we have been asking people for over seven years now to remove. New lots in higher grounds were allocated to people, but they refused to move.”

In that regard, Allicock noted that he is still urging persons to relocate as the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) will soon engage the Ministry of Housing to assist in a low-income housing development project to assist residents who have already received allocations to relocate.

“…We are still encouraging them, and we are trying to have the low-income housing development, because they are claiming that they have no money to build, so we are looking at that to assist them with relocating,” Allicock said.

He stressed that it is critical for residents in the flood-prone areas to relocate, since it is a yearly recurrence that sees serious losses.
“The water gets to about five feet in homes, and even if they put their stuff on tables, they still get wet, they lose a lot, and we lose a lot, for instance, I have a bill yet to look at for $3 million to feed the people we had in shelters, we had to feed them, and we are now asking for a supplementary to pay off those bills,” he added.

Seasonal flooding is said to occur when water from the Amazon rainforest in Brazil travels through the Rio Negro River to the Rio Branco River and, eventually, makes its way to Region Nine.
During the 2022 rainy season, four shelters were established: one at the Tabatinga Sports Complex; one at the Tabatinga Nursery School; another at the Culvert City Nursery School, and one more at the Civil Defence Commission’s Regional Disaster Risk Management Centre.

These shelters housed more than 130 persons from various villages affected by the floods.
Allicock noted that farmers and residents did not quite recover from the previous floods in 2021, which affected over 15,000 persons and over 22,000 farms.