Dear Editor,
The government will always have problems with floods in the Mahaica, Mahaicony and Abary rivers.
I agree with what the President said; water must have flowed from the backlands even before rain started in the creeks and on the coast.
One writer spoke about the heavy rain that is called ‘tiger rain’ which fell at the back of the Mahaicony River, and caused the water to flow from the low land of the Mahaicony to the Abary River.
However, this alone can’t flood it. May I suggest again that with the MMM/ADA embankment on the left bank of the river to keep the flooded water from the river getting in, there was no place for the water to escape or spread.
The Abary is a dead river which has no source of life left since it was blocked by the seven door sluice; the channel is blocked up and it does not have the power to drain the floodwater.
Only the tide that you can see coming and going when you stand on the bridge shows it resembles life, but it is a dead river.
When they were building the seven door sluice and blocking the river, the consultants and engineers employed by the then government should have warned them. The MMM/ADA project was not built for the rainy season, it is a dry weather project, where farmers get water from the conservancy.
The Abary River would not be a dead river if a mini spill weir was built across it instead of the seven door sluice; this weir would keep the river very much alive. The government should also build two canals with one single dam in the middle about two miles in front of the conservancy, linking the Mahaicony and Abary Rivers.
The dam could be planted with bamboo trees to hold it, and if the conservancy dam should breach, this dam would send the water into both rivers and not cause it to spread and cause major damage.
The Abary River is closer to the coastland than the Mahaicony and Mahaica rivers. The $3B canal the President speaks about may only drain the Mahaica/ Mahaicony region. TheAbary River cannot be dredged; it a waste of time and money. When dredging the Abary River, the government would have to build a lock on the Abary Bridge to keep out the salt water.
Yours faithfully,
Bramdeow Singh
