Even though the water level has dropped several inches in the inundated Abary Creek, residents say the clogged-up waterway is preventing adequate drainage and is causing persons to lose crops and livestock.
They told Stabroek News during a visit on Thursday that water should have been off the land already as the heavy rainfall eased up one week ago. They depend on farming and livestock for their livelihood and they say they continue to suffer losses because of negligence.
According to them the Region Six creek was not cleaned for a long time and it was only after they raised the issue with the Minister of Agriculture (MOA), Robert Persaud two Sundays ago that a long-boom excavator belonging to the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary-Agricul-tural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) was sent to the area on Tuesday to work.
When this newspaper visited, the excavator had already cleaned a large portion of a canal and residents were more than grateful. They are also requesting that the government make the machine available to provide each resident with two days work as was done for Mahaica and Mahaicony Creek residents.
Mahase, a cattle and poultry farmer said the mouth of the Abary Creek has been silted up for a long time and the MMA can put the excavator on a pontoon to desilt the area until the Venezuelans are ready to dredge.
“They [government] saying dem don’t have money to dredge the mouth of the Abary Creek, but in the meantime dem can use the same machine [long-boom excavator] to clean it out so we can get some relief.”
The man said the constant flooding in the area has caused his stocks to dwindle. He was even forced to send his two children, ages 13 and 15, to live with relatives on the coast.
He also said the access road is in an appalling condition and called on government to keep its promise to fix it.
A large-scale cattle farmer told this newspaper that he and 14 other major cattle farmers have been occupying the area located about four miles in the creek between the Blairmont water path to the Abary conservancy for several years now and they are left in a basin.
He said the area was never affected by so much flooding but the creek has been silted up to the extent that persons can even walk across at one section. He said too that there is no flood-control dam in the area even though Abary is the highest cattle producing area.
The farmer said he has already lost 70 head of cattle and together with the other farmers the loss amounts to 300 head because there is no grass for them. “Every day we losing cattle in the creek and nobody coming in to check the farmers,” he pointed out.
“As soon as we get a heavy rainfall the water come right up. The seven-door sluice is not in operation; at least two of doors could have been open. It would drain faster and carry all the slush away too.” This exact point has been raised by others including engineer Malcolm Alli who was integrally involved in the Abary project.
The cattle farmer added, “Years ago they used to carry the excavator on a unifloat and clean the mouth of the creek and the water used to flow. Now they tek about five or six men and they trying to weed the creek by hand but that is not effective at all.
According to him the government has “the equipment to do the job but they don’t have the know-how. They are not doing anything; they just coming and talking. Water always on the land and they charging a lot of rates but we are not getting drainage.”
According to Mohamed Kassim, a cattle, poultry and cash crop farmer who resides on the left bank of the creek he “can’t get to do anything now.” The man who also sells milk said he is unable to milk the cows because of the “big water.”
Cattle farmer, Mancaram Deochand said he lost 10 calves and 10 lambs already “because they can’t make it in the water.”
Residents said that while they are not so much affected as they can fend for themselves, they are concerned about the animals not getting enough to eat. As another owner of a cattle ranch, Kumar Ramdeo puts it, “We can come out and buy something to eat in the market but the cattle cannot go. When the grass in the water for so long it does get slimy and when the cows eat it they get sick.”
He lamented, “The cows drop in the water and the calves just left there and die. The little high space that is there for the cows is crowded
