Massive flooding in Region 5 as sea defence breached again at Dantzig

Residents of Dantzig in Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara (ECD) , have experienced another bout of flooding after another section of the sea defence there were recently breached.

The breach occurred sometime on Tuesday morning and spans an area of 100 metres. This resulted in the flooding of residences and farmlands.
As such, in an effort to immediately address the breach and prevent it from worsening as has happened in the past, the Public Works Ministry has already put systems in place for emergency repairs and financing for those works to bring relief for residents.
In fact, the Ministry has diverted a contractor that was doing corrective works on an existing breach nearby.
Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar explained that a timely response and mobilisation is the key element in preventing the situation from worsening.

“The speed to react is the most critical thing and that is why it is justified to have the contractor that was closest to the breach – actually walking distance and they already have the stones there and stuff there. So it is the best and fastest option at least to stop the flow of water coming inland and onto residents’ farmlands and their households,” Indar stated during a virtual press conference on Wednesday.
That contractor is BK International Inc – one of the companies hired to conduct remedial works on a section of the five-kilometre breach that had occurred in July at Dantzig.
According to Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, instructions were given to engage the contractor to immediately move over to the new breach site and commence emergency works.
“I have agreed with the Permanent Secretary that since we have a contract that was already awarded to BK International and the monies were not all paid out, I think about $105 million was already paid from a $352 million contract. So monies from that contract will be used in an emergency manner to deal with this new 100-metre breach,” he stated.
According to Edghill, because of how the sea defences are situated, the reality is that even if they wanted to put in another contractor that is not currently mobilised on the site to do the emergency works, it would be impossible.
“So instructions are to engage the contractor that is mobilised currently to move to the emergency works so that we can bring relief immediately to the people of Mahaicony and other surrounding areas and at the appropriate time with a budget and in a proper financial architecture, we will have to make applications for the sums that are required to satisfy the contractual demands,” he noted during the press conference.
The Public Works Minister further noted that these emergency works are estimated to cost around $145 million.
The sea defence at Dantzig, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), experienced a second breach last month resulting in thousands of acres of rice and pasture lands as well households being flooded with water from the ocean.
The breach was initially 200 metres but due to delayed response, the breach extended to five kilometres, part of which BK had been working on.
Upon assuming office earlier this month, Minister Indar had visited the breach sites where corrective works are being done.
In addition to BK International, another contractor, A&S General Contractors Inc, is also conducting repairs to breached sea defence at Glaciers Lust in the vicinity of Content, Mahaicony.
The Junior Public Works Minister had stressed the need for the existing breach of 800 metres to be sealed immediately as the violent tides can result in more damages and expenditure.
The first breach of the sea defence had occurred in October 2019 with floods affecting both the residential and farming communities. Farmland between Planters Hall and DeHoop became barren and remain that way. Cash crop, rice and cattle farmers were all thrown out of business.
Since then, hundreds of farmers would have lost business as a result of being unable to cultivate their lands due to it being flooded with saltwater from the ocean. (G8)