Region Six chairman says water has receded
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud yesterday conducted an aerial inspection of pivotal drainage infrastructure in regions 5 and 6 and the chairman of the latter says that water has receded from the land and many persons were satisfied with the response they had received.

Persaud told the Govern-ment Information Agency (GINA) that major investments made in 2005 to increase drainage capacity have resulted in better management of water accumulation on residential and farming areas.

The minister conducted aerial checks of drainage structures in Regions Five and Six and areas along the East Coast of Demerara including the East Demerara Water Conservancy.

According to a Govern-ment Information Agency (GINA) press release an aerial assessment was also carried out on the Abary, Mahaicony and Mahaica rivers to have a first-hand look at the integrity of the dams and other drainage structures.
Minister Persaud along with Region Six Chairman Zulfikar Mustapha also met residents and farmers to discuss possible interventions to minimise water accumulation.

The Minister noted that although the region has not seen as much rainfall as the East Coast, forecasts project that rainfall will intensify in Regions Five and Six. He assured residents that much focus will be placed in these areas in addition to others across the country.

Persaud said that some 350 persons were deployed around-the-clock to monitor drainage and irrigation systems. “We are not going to be napping. We are going to try as much as possible to move the water off,” he said.

He also commended the efforts of the Regional Chairman and the Regional Democratic Council for their proactive response in managing the drainage system in the region.

Meanwhile Mustapha said water has receded from the land in the region and many persons were satisfied with the response from the region. He noted that there was approximately 160 millimetres of rainfall on Saturday which resulted in the accumulation of water. But the water was able to ‘drain off’ within 24 hours because of an effective system.
The chairman appealed to residents to desist from disposing of their garbage in drainage systems.

Wordsworth said that work conducted over the previous years has given a “tremendous boost to the drainage system.” He said that there are plans to complete other ongoing projects, including the sluices at Moleson Creek, Alness and the reactivation of another sluice and pump station at Rose Hall.

In the meantime additional excavators were deployed at the Vreed-en-Hoop/La Jalousie façade drainage canal and Crane, West Coast Demerara to clean the Windsor Forest collector drain.