-blame Cunha koker changes
The recent heavy rainfall has left some residents in the village of Sarah Johanna on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) under several inches of water, severely affecting crops and livestock in some cases.
The village is a small community located between Land of Canaan and Pearl on the EBD. Several of the residents survive on subsistence farming and
when this newspaper visited the community on Wednesday residents said that they have been under water since early in December. And according to residents the water is only going down slowly.
Mahendra Persaud is a construction worker who rears livestock. He told Stabroek News that only two months ago he decided to restart rearing livestock, but now he is regretting his decision to purchase ducks and sheep. “It’s been less than two months now since I buy these stock, and look at how they living”, he lamented. As a result of the accumulated water, he has been forced to build structures to house his animals and to acquire shavings, which would help absorb the water.
Due to the rainfall, he has had to build elevated structures to house the animals and he has placed wood shavings in his yard in an attempt to absorb the water. He says though that because of the water, his sheep especially cannot move around as freely they should and at least one of his animals is suffering from a severe case of cramps.
Another resident Kowsilla Etwaru also complained about the prolonged presence of the water in the community. She said that this area is always prone to flooding but that this particular period has been especially frustrating for her. She and her daughter Jasmattie Etwaru share a compound where several children live and she says it has been challenging coping in the prevailing circumstances. “Water all about and this nah easy”, she said. She was also disappointed that no medical team has visited the area to at least provide residents with some basic medical supplies.
Meanwhile, she said that the drainage in the community needed to be addressed because it was clearly inadequate. “We need the water to drain off more quickly” she declared.
Persaud on the other hand believes that the problem has come about because of the decision to close the original Cunha koker some years back. According to him, the new sluice (which he refuses to call Cunha) is not as effective as the original sluice. He says that the water from the Cunha canal, instead of going west is now being diverted south to the new koker. The old canal has since been filled by Barama Company Limited and the Cunha outfall has been transformed into a log storage area by the company. Persaud believes that if the original sluice was re-opened, the flooding that affects his community will cease.
Persaud said that the diversion of water has not altogether been successful and he told this newspaper that at a certain point the water backs up and sometimes spills onto the land.
Neil Williams normally clears the trench surrounding the new Cunha sluice. He too said that the sluice was not working as it should, but said that part of the problem was that residents dumped materials into the trenches which impede the flow of the water.
Recently, the Guyana Citizens’ Initiative (GCI) called for the rehabilitation of the original Cunha canal and sluice. The body is arguing that when this is done it will immediately divert a significant volume of water coming from the southern part of the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) towards the Demerara River. This is expected to relieve the pressure on the Northern section of the Conservancy dam thereby avoiding the release of water through the Maduni sluice into the Mahaica Creek except as a last resort, which has proven problematic in the past.
On Thursday, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud announced that work is underway to provide significant drainage from the conservancy through the Cunha Canal. According to the Minister, the canal is currently operating at 40 per cent of its capacity. He said that all designs and technical specifications for execution of works have been completed and upon completion of works, the 1.8 mile canal will discharge water into the Demerara River at approximately 500 cubic feet per second- a much improved efficiency. Persaud said that Barama Company Ltd has already indicated its willingness to facilitate any works necessary for the resuscitation of the drainage canal.
