More than one week after the Canal Number Two area was completely inundated by heavy rainfall, residents are complaining that the water has not receded and they are facing significant losses.
Speaking with Guyana Times on Monday, residents voiced their plight, noting the impact the floodwaters have had on their livelihoods.
One of the affected residents, Mark Itwaru, recalled that he noticed the rising water level last Monday after hours of continuous rainfall. However, after one week, residents’ premises and farmlands are still inundated.
“Last week Monday, we had some terrible rainfall in the afternoon period and the
One of the farms that are currently under water
place was flooded. Within one o’clock to five o’clock, the place was flooded and from then to now, water is still on the land.”
He noted the water within the housing communities was receding very slowly, and the farms were facing tremendous losses since all of the produce was destroyed. Additionally, there was also damage to household items and appliances.
“By the housing area, the water receding very, very slow. Like every two day, then the water move one inch, but in the farmland everything is destroyed, because the water is not moving at all. Everybody is counting losses, even myself at present. I have over 800 pine plant that was about to bear and all is under water. Now they can’t bear, because the water is not running off the land,” Itwaru said. Meanwhile, another resident who identified himself as Ishmael (only name given), indicated that he rears livestock for a living and has faced over $200,000 in losses so far. That figure continues to grow as the days progress. “I don’t have anywhere to put them (the livestock) so I had to left them in the water and they dead out,” he related.
“I had three-acre banana and they look like they mightn’t make it ‘cause the water affecting roots and they falling down,” said another resident.
Some also say that the trenches are overflowing, which is adding to the slow drainage of the water. They are also blasting the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) of the Canal Polder for failure to address their concerns and turning a blind eye to their calls.
“The Canal Number Two trench full to its max and the RDC and not even the NDC is not budging. Nobody is coming forward to say anything about the flooding.”
While the main cause of the flooding was the heavy rainfall, the residents said that they were unable to say whether or not there was another underlying cause for the inundation.
“I don’t know if there’s any breach anywhere or by the conservancy, but I know that the rainfall was very heavy on last week Monday that can contribute to the flooding, but I don’t know if it was anything else,” said another resident.
Persons from the community are asking for the trenches to be dug so that the water can drain off the land. So far, they are still counting their losses and are expecting to do so until the water retreats.
