Dear Editor,
Perusing the contents of a letter written by Mr Lall Kumar Ramsingh in the January 7, 2009 letter columns of Stabroek News (‘If so much money has been spent on drainage, why is the system not working?’), I firmly believe that casting aspersions, apportioning blame and foolishly grandstanding serve no purpose in dealing with the issues at hand, and are counter-productive to addressing the challenges presently encountered as a result of the current intense rainfall. While I am not an expert in hydraulic engineering, Mr Ramsingh’s letter cannot be allowed to derail the efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture and its agencies to address the flood conditions affecting parts of the coastland.

The entire drainage and irrigation system along the coastland is an enormously expensive but necessary investment which has to evolve to meet the changing needs of our national growth path and economic transformation. There will be instances when an evolving D&I system becomes stressed as a result of the demands placed on it. For example, over the past fifteen years, agricultural production has increased; an additional 100,000 plus new homes have been constructed; rainfall intensity and levels have climbed; tidal drainage time has been reduced due to sea level rise; and prolonged rainy seasons and budgetary constraints among a host of other  factors have all contributed, directly and indirectly, to greater water use and increased pressure on the existing drainage system.

Inevitably, therefore, the coastal strip which is a minimum of four feet below sea level will, at intervals, be affected by flood-like conditions. Of course, there are a number of other factors which can be considered to have effects on the D&I systems, such as domestic and commercial waste management, on-going public and private construction, reserve encumberment, failure to make rates and taxes payments, and vandalism, but these in no way should prevent the institutional structures from providing quality services to us; however, what they do is restrict the quantum of services necessary for optimal living and livelihood.

The long and short of it is that we ourselves contribute significantly to the levels of flooding currently being experienced. But it is a price we would have to pay in the short to medium term as an ambitious and productive society. It is evident that wealth is being generated through our production and investment expansion and infrastructural development. My personal belief is that within the next five years, the required capital investment in national drainage and irrigation and the corresponding public services generated as a result will stimulate the pace of individual, commercial and industrial development.

For too long we have made unwarranted criticisms without pondering the net result. We must never fail to acknowledge the strides we have made as a country. Less than two decades ago Guyana was a pauperized state bereft of infrastructure and productive capacity. Today, we have moved by leaps and bounds in all sectors. This is no mean achievement for a country that is resource constrained; for a country that was paying a large portion of its revenues to service foreign debt sixteen years ago; for a country that is now paying less than 10% of its receipts to foreign debt today.

Macro-growth, good governance and personal development are evidence of progress at the national and individual levels. But in due course, the investments made through projects in cross-sectoral initiatives and programmes such as drainage and irrigation refurbishment and enhancement will realize tangible and clearly linked benefits. Up till now some critics do not  understand the immense direct and indirect benefits derived from the investments made in the national drainage and irrigation system. I shudder to think what they would have concluded had we not pursued the interventions undertaken over the past decade. A simple scenario: Rewind fifteen years and imagine a totally dilapidated and non-functional D&I system which had to respond to the present climatic changes and the capital/physical transformation of the national landscape.  The coastland would have been permanently converted to a flood plain and we would all be boat people.
It is time we put our shoulders to the wheel and become necessary partners in devising strategies and providing support to the efforts being pursued to alleviate the challenges emanating from the unprecedented rainfall levels and the budgetary constraints affecting immediate D&I improvement. We all know the shortcomings; let’s work on fixing them.
Yours faithfully
Nigel Dharamlall