Latest update April 17th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 02, 2012 News
Several farmers in the Hope/Dochfour area, East Coast Demerara, are among
hundreds counting their losses after acres of pepper, plantains, squash, boras and other cash crops remained under water from heavy rainfalls over the past few days.
According to Curt Washington, his farm has been under water for the past five days. The rains started “in and out” in December last, and since then the farmers from that area had been making numerous appeals to the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) to fix the drainage system and ‘clean the trench’ but they “were only being pushed around.”
Washington, who has five acres of land, said that he doesn’t know when again he will “eat”, since his farm is where his money and food come from but now that “everything is destroyed I don’t know what gon happen to me and my family.”
Kaieteur News visited the farmlands, located about two miles off the Hope public road, and found crops under at least three feet of water.
Another farmer, Prevor Herod, said that seven acres of his land are covered with water. “I spend all my money on this farm. This is my livelihood, this is what my family depends on, so what must I do now? How will we eat?”
He told Kaieteur News that this will be the first time he has suffered such a tremendous loss. While he suffered losses in the 2005 flooding, it was nothing compared to recent flooding.
“If they had opened both doors of the koker (at the Atlantic Ocean), the water would have run out faster but because one of the doors is closed to keep the fishing boats in, the other door can’t get out so much water,” Herod complained.
Lenox Fraser, who planted 14 acres of land with bananas and plantains, said that he was forced to cut them prematurely as many of the plants had started to fall into the water.
“Five days since we farm deh under water but nobody na come do anything. We does normally reap we crop and take it to Bourda Market but now we aint got nothing to reap,” one farmer said.
“We are living like fishes. First of all they were supposed to dig new drainage before they start the Hope canal but they didn’t do that. Since June, NDIA promise to dig a trench but it’s another year and nothing was done,” a farmer, Roy Doodnauth, said.
Most of the residents in Dochfour depend on farming to make a living but now that almost all of their crops are gone, they are now contemplating how they will “live without money.”
The country has been pounded by heavy, incessant rains over the past few days with several places reporting flooding and water accumulation. Government announced on Tuesday that it was releasing waters from an alarmingly high East Demerara Water Conservancy to prevent overtopping. The controlled release had raised fears of flooding in especially the East Coast Demerara area, and brought back memories of the devastating 2005 floods.
Meanwhile, the state-owned Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) urged residents living on the coast to take precautionary measures to guard against the excessive rainfall and flooding.
These measures include boiling for 15 minutes of all tap water intended for food, drink preparation and personal consumption. The boiled water should be stored in a tightly covered container.
Alternatively, water can be made safe by using household bleach.
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