After a month of inundation, farmers and residents in the backlands of Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara can breathe easier as the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary-Agricultural Developmental Authority (MMA-ADA) has commenced rehabilitating two major breaches along the Perth Canal.
MMA General Manager Aubrey Charles
During this month, Guyana Times had been highlighting that the unrepaired breach flooded hundreds of acres of farmlands during high tides as well as several residences along Company Dam, New Providence.
This newspaper was told Monday that the MMA had deployed a hymac to the area on Friday to commence corrective works but some setbacks delayed the rehabilitation.
When Guyana Times contacted farmers who were adversely affected, they related that they are overjoyed that works have finally begun.
One female farmer noted however, that while she is appreciative of the works, small amounts of flooding still occurs at high tide. She is of the view that if the situation wasn’t highlighted in the media, nothing would have been done.
General Manager of MMA Aubrey Charles when contacted last Tuesday confirmed that works would have begun. Based on an assessment, he noted that some months after the dam was constructed, it settled and thus its height was reduced.
“After the settlement, the height of the dam was below the designed level,” Charles had told Guyana Times.
The manager also said that the spring tide overflow caused soil erosions which facilitated the widening of the breaches, occasioning heavy flooding.
The dam at Perth Canal which was rehabilitated around six months ago when dry weather was prevailing, collapsed shortly after. The farmers had earlier appealed to the MMA-ADA to repair the broken sections but their repeated calls were unheaded.
They expressed frustration over the fact that the recent El Niño period was the ideal time to have done the repairs but nothing was done to assist them. Now that the rainy season has started, they lamented that they have to suffer losses.
