Residents of the Mahaica and Mahaicony creeks are expected to have relief from flooding during the rainy season as the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary/Agricultural-Develop-ment-Authority (MMA/ ADA) has taken steps to drain the water from the “back to the front”.
General Manager of MMA Aubrey Charles told Stabroek News that the Perth/Biaboo canal has been rehabilitated and linked to the primary drainage channel between Cottage and Zeeland. He said this would allow the water to flow into the Bellamy drain, which would in turn be discharged into the Atlantic. He pointed out that the objective is to reduce the flooding in the Mahaica and Mahaicony creeks.
According to him, eight primary drains leading to the Bellamy canal between Mahaica and Mahaicony Rivers have been cleared.
Maintenance works are also currently being undertaken “at the land south of the irrigation canal in the upper reaches of Mahaica and Mahaicony River going up to Biaboo/Wash Clothes,” he added. MMA has also rehabilitated the Industry canal that lies south of the public road.
Charles also told this newspaper that the monthly maintenance programme involving the manual cleaning of the drains and canals is continuing.
The secondary drains are also being rehabilitated and the work is 70% completed.
He said the focus of the rehabilitation is on the drains and the canals south of the main irrigation canal and the Abary River where there were problems that caused flooding. Charles said the work is being done satisfactorily and he expects that the drainage would be enhanced during the rainy season, as there are no impediments.
Charles is appealing to the various Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC) to ensure that the residential drains are cleaned so that residents can benefit. He pointed out that flooding would not be eliminated but would be minimized, especially if rainfall is more than what MMA has the capacity to drain.
Regional Development Officer of Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice), Govind Singh, told this newspaper that the region has already executed all the drainage and irrigation (D&I) projects within the ten NDCs.
He said that the D&I workers have also been conducting their maintenance work by clearing the internal drains.
He hopes that with all the preparations that have been made for the rainy season, residents would not suffer flooding this year. He appealed to residents “not to throw plastic bottles and food boxes in the drains as this can cause unnecessary clogging and they would end up being affected.”
