NDIA’s claims of all canals cleaned untrue – regional official

Preparation for rice crop…
A claim made by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Frederick Flatts, that the agency has made preparation for rice farmers on the Corentyne to go into the Autumn crop, and has cleaned all of the canals, might not be totally accurate.

The Homestead Canal, which links the Excess Canal between Number 60 and 61 Villages and which drains water from 9,000 acres of land, is overtaken with vegetation. The sluice door at Number 65 Village also is malfunctioning.
On April 14, during a virtual meeting with caretaker Agriculture Minister Noel Holder, Prime Ministerial Regional Representative Gobin Harbhajan, President of the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, Mahindra Persaud; and Chairman of the Rice Millers Association, Rajin Persaud, the NDIA CEO reportedly claimed that all of the D&I infrastructure was cleaned and would be maintained during the coming crop.
The meeting was arranged after the regional representative and the Rice Millers Association Chairman had met with rice farmers on the Corentyne following concerns expressed by farmers about the next crop, since Guyana does not have an official Government in place. They were worried about the necessary infrastructure being in place for the Autumn crop.
Flatts reportedly assured that the necessary infrastructure would be in place. In fact, Harbhajan said, “Flatts also said that even those in the front lands will not have difficulty accessing water during the next crop, because all of the canals will be maintained during the crop.”
However, on Tuesday this publication visited the Homestead Canal between Number 60 and 61 Villages, and found it to be covered with vegetation.

The Excess Canal runs from Number 57 to 61 Villages and provides drainage for more than 1,000 homes. In addition to that, a further 1,200 homes on the opposite side, between Numbers 52 and 66 Villages, also depend on the canal for drainage.
More importantly, the canal drains 9,000 acres of rice land between Numbers 52 and 66 Villages.
The Excess Canal is about 350 metres in length.
Meanwhile, the sluice at Number 65 Village is not functioning effectively. In fact, one of the two doors is not working.
The sluice was recently rehabilitated.
With the impending May/June rains, there will be a need for proper drainage and functional sluice doors to prevent flooding of the cultivation areas.
Last year, farmers in the Black Bush Polder had suffered millions of dollars in damages due to floodwaters. That flood, which lasted for close to one month, was caused by silted drainage canals.