Flood-affected Black Bush Polder residents to get Govt assistance

–NDIA clearing back drains

–CDC to distribute flood-relief hampers from Saturday

Residents and farmers of Yakusari, Johanna, Mibicuri and Lesbeholden, Black Bush Polder, Corentyne, Berbice who suffered losses as a result of heavy rainfall over the last few days, on Wednesday met with Prime Minister Hon. Brig. (ret’d) Mark Phillips and Minister of Agriculture Hon. Zulfikar Mustapha.

The officials were at the time conducting an outreach to flood-affected areas to assess the damage and engage residents on the way forward.

Farmers who attended the meeting said their fields and farms were flooded. A number of poultry farmers also related that most of their animals had died due to the flooding.

Minister Mustapha said the high intensity of rainfall has been putting a strain on the drainage system. He said his ministry, through the various agencies, would be working with those affected to offer assistance.

“Today we are having a first-hand look at what is taking place here. People are very agitated and I want to assure them that government will put all systems in place to ensure that this matter is resolved as soon as possible. Although we are working to boost our drainage system by complementing it with additional pumps, the high intensity of rainfall has been putting a strain on that system. We will be installing additional pumps in Black Bush Polder and we are hoping that those pumps can bring some amount of relief to residents.

We are also putting other systems in place to prevent water in the backlands from draining into the residential areas. I’ve also instructed the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), and the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the losses in the entire Black Bush Polder so that we can start giving some sort of assistance because many persons experienced losses in livestock, cash crops, and rice. I’d like to make a commitment here that we’ll try as much as possible to assist those who suffered losses,” Minister Mustapha said.

Residents told the team that although machines were sent to execute works in the area some time ago, some of the works were not done because persons are occupying the reserves.

Minister Mustapha informed residents that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) would be deploying machines to complete all of the outstanding works.

“Over the last few months, we would’ve assigned a number of machines to Black Bush Polder. However, some of the works that were supposed to be done in the area were not done. For the rest of this period I’ve assigned a machine for each of the four polders so that they can complete those works that were targeted in the first instance. Also, works on the drains referred to as the back drains were left incomplete because people have occupied those reserves. I’ve since instructed the NDIA to ensure all the reserves are cleared so that the machines can complete those works,” Minister Mustapha said. 

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister informed residents that the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) would be back in the area to distribute flood-relief hampers to every affected household.

“This is an unusual amount of rainfall that has affected many areas across the country. You’ve heard, in terms of relief, we will have the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) coming into the area with some food and sanitation hampers to distribute to every household from Saturday. Our decisions today are aimed at bringing relief to the people who are suffering in the shortest possible time,” Prime Minister Phillips said.

 Minister Mustapha also disclosed that Government has allocated funds to the Water Users’ Association to execute its mandate of clearing and maintaining drains and canals. He said over $140 million was allocated for the works.

He added that Cabinet has approved payments to the tune of some $15 million owed to a number of contractors who were owed for works carried out under the previous administration.