Dear Editor,
With every rainy season, more of our hardworking agricultural producers are dragged into poverty, thanks to a government which claims it cares. We have been inundated in the past with news about how many millions of dollars have been spent to improve the drainage (and in some cases, irrigation) of specific areas within the agricultural belt, but all these are reduced to nothing once the rains come. If indeed humongous sums have been spent in bettering the drainage system, why is it not working?
The Minister of Agriculture often has the effrontery to go and meet with the farmers and express his sympathy at their plight and outline to them the additional programmes which the government will undertake to improve their communities. There is always no shortage when it comes to the amount of money this administration says it will spend to ensure there is no flooding during the next rainy season.
The time has come for the farming community to give the Minister and others the cold shoulder whenever they visit their areas. They should simply not attend any meetings with government officials because it is an absolute waste of time. For the farmers in the flood-prone areas, there is no end in sight.
The political rhetoric will continue to play in their ears as the general election approaches. The farmers will be promised all kinds of programmes and assistance to make them better, but at the end of the day, they are going to be worse off than the previous rainy season. Remember, we are in the era of Global Warming, and such things as flooding are just going to get worse.
Small wonder the Rice Producers’ Association (RPA) cannot really represent the few farmers in its membership. The RPA has been used as a mobilization and organizational tool to get farmers to vote for the present regime at every general election. It is an organisation which was used as a tool against the PNC when it governed. It is a political organization which has done absolutely nothing for the farmers. It would be interesting if the RPA could tell us of its achievements since 1992 and how these achievements have positively impacted on the farmers and, by extension, the country.
The RPA should also let us know why it has so zealously supported the overcapitalization and over retooling of the rice industry at a time, even without the present massive flooding in the rice districts, the industry will record negative growth as a result of the continuing slump in world rice prices and massive increases in the cost of inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides.
The time may have arrived when the farmers in the Mahaica, Abary and Mahaicony Rivers should file a class action suit against the government because they have been continuously flooded out, with their crops and livestock detroyed, thus reducing them to beggars.
Yours faithfully,
Lall Kumar Ramsingh
… as for the class action suit ,,assimilate the following to “de anareble ministah of de back bone of de ecanami ah de country ,, ! who
is dah ? yuh kiddin’ rite??? ah talking bout the man who with his “mba”
is de caz of nuttin being satisfactorily done to minimise de devastation from the repetition of what is now the paramount reason for a class action suit !
i have the evidence to support ,, any such law suit by all who have suffered from ‘05/6 which is when i told rabat de anareble ministah that it will continue ,, and get worse !
two of the people’s major industries that is the spine of the economy ,, is at near collapse !,, simply bcos this guy robert persaud in his arrogance with his mba exercised his ignorance of the “landscape” to which we belong !
The Amazon River’s flow is mightier than the mississipi,, nile and,, yangtze,,,- get this – “combined” ,, it drains the largest watershed on the planet 2,722,000 sq miles !,,- almost the size of the contiguous
48 minus california and texas – !of which we are a part ! and must grapple with bcos of “climate change” that is affecting the ANDES mountain range the longest and most extensive on the planet ! on the western slopes of the Andes to the pacific ocean,,, it is in some places no more than 60 miles ! whereas on the eastern slopes the Amazon that drains the “basin” is more than 4000 miles ,, from venezuela,, columbia,, ecuador,, peru,, bolivia and,, of course big brazil,,is the reason for the “seasonal pattern” ! the melt during the summer time as it is now,, with climate change that affects part of the Andes being on the eqatorial line in the path of the sun as the planet orbits the sun ! add to this the continous rain in the basin made from the humidity of the RAIN FOREST ! of which we r a part,,,and is major to the other two -suriname and French Guiana- that constitute the “guiana shield”,,,, Gy has the longest shore line along the Atlantic ocean ,, hence more of the silt from the 3+ million tons deposited by the AMAZON river EACH DAY ! finds it self along the shores of GY ,, and due to maintenance or the lack of which is on record,, the silt has been allowed to build up at the mouths of all the rivers,,creeks and canals in Gy that flow to the Atlantic ocean !
it is my contention that if he did not want to interface with me on the facts i presented to him by mail on what obtains now ,, he should have at least told the President what i was saying to him ,, and in some measure checked with the “experts” to ensure ,,whether what i was giving him as facts had any veracity ! he alone knows whether any such action on his part was detailed
my mention of the lanscape to which we belong is the indisputable “reason” for the flood that is not goin anywhere soon ,,,
“he” was told when he was LIASON to the President’s ear ,,
i sense some dissatisfaction by the president on his performance ,,
time will tell whether it’s his ignorance of the ill fated phenomena
and neglect to learn how to work in harmony with what “design can not impact” since as min of agri ,, he should be knowledgeable at least of the fundamentals of farming which is DRAINAGE & IRRIGATION ! failing to understand this ,, then he should and must be held responsible with “team stupid and their band-aid” idiocy !
Sir
Are you SURE that the Berbice, Abary, Mahaicony, Mahaica
and Demerara rivers are LINKED to the Amazon rivers?
Can you please re-check your research?
Satar Amin, I’m weary telling MT exactly what you are now telling him! MT seems to be unaware of the Sierra Acaria mountain range at the Guyana-Brazil border that effectively seals off the Amazon basin from Guyana’s south. He seems to be DELUDED by the sheer massive area of the Amazon basin and fails to realize from the simple hydrostatic equation, pressure = height x gravitational acceleration x density of water, that the Sierra Acaria is MORE THAN ENOUGH to hold back the waters of the Amazon basin. Guyana’s flooding is due strictly to the rainfall in Guyana’s territory and, of course, human folly, not to the Amazon basin.
MT. How come French Guiana and Suriname don’t flood as much from rainfall??? THEY HAVE A BIGGAH PRABLEM WID DE SILT!!!
OH! Rain nah ah fall deh!!
Boy I tell ya, this boy Mikey is prolific and unstoppable, but the tell you the honest truth, this is the first of his numerous comments, in which I actually follow his line of argument and illogical, logic.
However the only thought that pops up in my mind,while trying to make sense of his blogs is the quote of the famous Chinese philosopher Confusious.
“He who knows not and knows not, that he knows not,is a fool”
Joe.
…SN this comment is between me and my country man … but more than that we may even be family,, since we r both from the GREAT county of BERBICE ! and if any one from Berbice ,,is aked abt their origin ,, if they r from Berbice will not stop telling u abt how proud they r to be a berbician so having said that ,, i now ask u not to let this be axed ,, cos all that is said here is in jest ! but with a very highlevel of professionalism relative to the issue in focus !….
balgobin i am not sure where u found “sierra acarai” so i’m giving u the coordinates to find the “serra acarai” earlier u started off by attacking me with the kanuku mtn range ,,
lat 1.8333333
long -57.5
if ure able to fully understand that it is almost at the southern boundary of GUYANA-surinam,, then u will perhaps be able to make sense from the location of the Balbina dam which is further west of the “SERRA ACARAI” but lower in the “basin” which is almost in the middle between konashen and manaus,, this balbina inundates 2360sq kms during the dry season ,, let ur maladjusted mind if it can,, allow u to see how it’s possible that in this the wet season compounded by “climate change” -which u “expertly” claim is not relative to the flooding- is causing the flood as it is in GY ,, NOW !
u remind me of when u were in lil abc,, when teacha tell yuh fuh draw jetplane tek aff fum atkinson ,, when teacha aks yuh whey de plane deh ,, yuh tell teacha seh ah plane dun leff lang time !suh yuh slate clean ,,
the RIO Branco which is a tributary of the Rio Negro ,, the Negro being the largest tributary of the Amazon ,, and meets the Amazon where Manaus is located ,, starts in columbia ! “bon fim” on the other side of the takatu river from lethem ,, is electrified from the balbina dam !the Branco runs parallel to the west of GY ,, hence the inundation of the Balbina dam is more south west of the “serra acarai” and just so ur pea-sized brain can take this in ,,, ” if watah kyan staan yah ,, den get yuh bowl fuh bail ,, caz e ah guh dah side “.
…. Satar ,, happy new year to u and those near and dear to u !
first let me answer ur question from reference of those whose expertise on the Amazon river ,, tell me that the rivers in GUYANA have as their source,,, tributaries and sub-tributaries of ,, yea ,, u guessed it !,,,, the Amazon ! and that all the rivers in GY r inextricably “linked” to the Amazon “river” ! is only 1 Amazon ,, but more than 1200 tributaries ,, 11 hundred can be found in BRAZIL !
if the border of Gy in the south and west of us is the reason for ur query then u need to understand that borders anywhere on the planet r imaginary lines ,, and in the case of water ,, which is the focus of my time with u,,let me add that bcos the laws of physics dictate that water has no shape or form ,, it will go there if it can’t go stay here !….
if u know something which u feel is strong to confute what i have said here ,, plz ,, don’t hesitate to let us collate !
here’s how — iamtan4ever@yahoo.com
I get an headache trying to read you inputs. Hard to tell if you are making sense or not. Because in attempting to write croelese everyone do there own thing in spelling and abreviations, my suggestion to blogers is that we stick to simple English until we decide on writing a creolese dictionary. Nothing wrong with a few short creolese sentences for emphasis.
… tek 2 pain tablet an call meh in de ma’nin’,, or when yuhlarn fuh read abhi taak ,, caz lakah yuh “yankified” ,, non badi nah aks u fuh reed notten hay !
this is an open portal ,, one that holds open for ur sense of respect ,, that is very demanding of minds to excercise tolerance ,, in so doin u will come to know that like u with u “greater mind”,,so too there is those of lesser minds ,,, reffered to as the balance in the in the equation !… ize juss wurds ,, dah is all ! and it cheap !……
Here is one law of physics you need to know and UNDERSTAND: hydrostatic pressure = height x gravitational acceleration x density of water.
Example: a Perspex wall 1 metre high can hold back the water in a tank 1,000 km long by 1,000 km wide without breaking. If MT can’t understand this, I abandon all hope for him…
HAHAHAHA! You calling the Sierra Acaria mountain range that separates Guyana from Brazil in the South an IMAGINARY LINE!
Go check an atlas or Google Earth sat images…
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1797840
Para H at http://stabroeknews.com/news/flood-waters-rising-smelly/ said it better than me:
“This is a “strange” explanation for the coastal flooding in Guyana. All the rivers south of the Acarai Mountains watershed drain into the Amazon. All the rivers north of the Acarai Mtns. drain towards the Atlantic. The Acarai Mtns are some 3000ft high.
So how can a resevoir on a tributary of the Amazon back up so high that the water climbs up over the 3000ft Acarai range to deluge the Guyana rivers and coast?
There is one exception; the border river Takutu drains part of the Rupununi basin then discharges into the Branco which is a tributary of the Amazon. When the Takutu and the Branco back up, the Rupununi floods (an annual occurence)and the Essequibo and Takutu basins essentially become one, or become linked in a way similar to what Tannassee describes. But the Essequibo can handle the discharge from the flooded Rupununi, yes it can rise 15/20ft in places on its upper course but by the time it gets to the coast its great volume of water is spread out over its wide delta, the people who live along its banks know how to cope with the occasional floods.
Flooding from the Essequibo,is not a factor in this current debacle, and it has nothing to do with dams or resevoirs in the Amazon catchment area. This is merely rainfall being allowed to accumulate on the low-lying coastal plain without adequate means of discharging it over the seawalls into the ocean.”
Simple. If you live below sea level, and continue bailing, your drainage operation is purely myopic.It would not work. You stand a better chance of sentencing yourself to the galleys, rowing, and getting off the mudflat you are living on.
… Yo! joe ,,,casting aspersions cloaked in the philosophy of Confucus is not going to help ur cause with the vetivier grass ! au contraire mon frere ,, u create a scenario where those who should be listening to us see u as showboating that which u feel is superior to anyone else’s ! here’s this for ur consolation ,,
that which is conducive to china and india and anywhere else on the planet ,, is not always fit to be reconciled for our part of the world ,, where not just the landscape is different so too is the weather that is holding the trump that u and “team stupid” is yet to understand and make sense of !…..