Corentyne Coast battered by massive Atlantic erosion

…Sea Defence Board urged to swiftly intervene

By Andrew Carmichael

Erosion at the Number 63 Beach on the Corentyne, Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), has now led to water from the Atlantic Ocean gushing into the waterways along the coast.

This is the current situation following massive erosion through reinforcement at the Number 63 Beach.
During 2018, the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Six had raised the issue of the erosion of the beach on several occasions. Now with much of the reinforcement eroded, water from the Atlantic is now reaching farmlands in some instances.
The affected area stretches from Number 65 Village to Number 52 Village on the Corentyne.
Back in 2018, the RDC had proposed that boulders be used to break the force of the ocean’s waves. Following that, the National Sea Defence Board conducted a survey of the entire coastland of the region. A proposal was subsequently submitted to Central Government. Last year a project was awarded to BK International to place boulders along the foreshore between Number 67 Village and Crabwood Creek. However, the most critical area – Number 63 Beach – was left out of the project.

Regional Representative Gobin Harbhajan, who sat on the RDC and had made some proposals back in 2018, has been monitoring the situation.
“During the last spring tide, the water ride over the bank and got to where the cash crop and watermelons were planted. I highlighted this a few times about the erosion of the Beach from Number 65 all the way to Number 62 Village,” Harbhajan told this publication.
A decade ago, residents of the community cultivated vegetables and melons just adjacent to the beach. However, the ocean has claimed that portion of land. What used to be referred to as the “first fields” is now being taken over by the ocean.
This was after a defence dam was built to prevent further erosion, but by that time more than 50 metres had already been reclaimed by the threatening Atlantic. Additionally, “first fields” can no longer be cultivated. In fact, it is now a swamp which holds water every high tide. It could be a prospect for aquaculture but that will only be possible if the ocean can be prevented from making further inroads. Government had claimed that the affected area would have been addressed this year. However, no progress has been made.
“We keep looking at it and no one seems to pay any heed to it,” Harbhajan told this publication as he called on the Sea Defence Board to urgently address the issue.
“With a few more high tides you will see the water reaching to the pasture which is next to the residential area and the animals will not have a pasture to graze,” he added.
Ironically, the Sea Defence Board has an engineer in the region, who lives in a Government building, which is situated along the main entrance to the Number 63 Beach.