Region 6 preparing for upcoming rainy season

Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) is currently preparing for the upcoming rainy season, according to Regional Chairman, David Armogan.
With predictions of an early start to the rainy season, the regional administration is trying to get its drainage system in order to avoid any large-scale flooding.
Armogan noted that if it rains for two or three days, then it will be difficult to drain off the water from the land in a timely manner.
Addressing the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), the Chairman stated that the administration is trying to ensure that all the drainage systems are cleared and clean.
On this note, he appealed to all residents of the Region not to dispose of garbage in the drainage system.
“Because you block it and then we have floods. The thing that we are doing is ensuring that all of our kokers are functional and our sluices are functional. We have some work to do with siltation which would have occurred over the last few weeks,” Armogan said.
He explained that when the weather is dry siltation takes place. Hence, there is now a need to do some cleaning some of the canals with kokers and the sluices.
Farmers in the Black Bush Polder depend mainly on the Joppa, Eversham, and Adventure canals for drainage. The Regional Chairman explained that they will have to be clean in the shortest possible time.
“The pumps are in order, and we are doing some repairs to the pump at Adventure so that when the tide is high, we can still get water out by using the pump,” Armogan added.
Meanwhile, rice farmers in the Black Bush Polder are slightly ahead of others in the Region with many of them starting the spring rice crop.
About 5 per cent of the cultivation area in the Black Bush Polder has already been cultivated. Three pumps are currently engaged in pumping water so that rice farmers can cultivate the land and according to Armogan, three more pumps are expected from the Agriculture Ministry to be deployed in the Black Bush Polder.
“We have some mobile pumps so that in the event of flooding as we did on the last occasion, we can take the irrigation pumps that are mobile and use them for drainage purposes. So, these pumps will have a double purpose.”
In recent years rice farmers in the front lands have been complaining of limited access to irrigation water.
The water comes from the Canje River through Black Bush Polder. As such, those farmers in the Polders have access to it and many times farmers who occupy the front lands will only start getting access to irrigation water after the Black Bush farmers need no more water.
Meanwhile, persons who are desirous of getting into the shrimp industry have benefited from an initiative being rolled out by the Agriculture Ministry in Region Six. The initiative will also benefit those interested in getting involved in Inland fishing
Armogan pointed out that there will be an increase in shrimp production and when the infrastructure is completed inland fish production mainly tilapia will also increase.
“We are trying to assist people as much as possible because to hire machines and get into this business is very costly. The government is trying to provide as much as possible assistance to the farmers,” Armogan told the RDC.
Since the people’s Progressive Party government took office in August last year the Agriculture Ministry has been working on an agenda to double agricultural production within the shortest possible time.