West Berbice farmers who suffered losses when saltwater got into their canal through the Abary/Profit sea defence breach are happy that the water is back to normal.
The 550 metres of sea defence breach between Profit and Abary has finally been sealed more than one year after its scheduled completion.
The delay had caused a lot of discomfort to farmers.
They told Stabroek News that for a long time they had to put up with the saltwater getting into their rice, cash crop and livestock farms during the high tide.
A few days ago, though they were pleasantly surprised when they realized that the water was “sweet again.” Farmers from Profitt to Rosignol on the West Coast Berbice were affected.
The cash crop farmers who would normally pump water from the canal to water their crops, told this newspaper that just to try to save some of the young plants they had to “fetch water from a far way to take to we farm.”
A farmer from Cotton Tree told Stabroek News that the saltwater was too harsh for the plants and resulted in a lot dying.
He recalled that recently 350 of his young tomato plants died but he managed to save another 400 roots. He is “more than happy that the water is ok again. I’m planning to start preparing the land [another portion] to plant again.”
Another farmer said he had lost about 3,000 roots of ochro. The farmers said their losses were “adding up…” and they wanted something to be done about it.
They visited officials from the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary Agricultural Development Authority and the regional office who told them that nothing could have been done to prevent the saltwater from entering their farms and canals.
The farmers were told though that they would get relief after the breach was sealed.
An official from the Sea Defence Board told this newspaper that “the breach was already sealed and no area is under threat.” He said the contractors were still in the area trying to finish up the project.
He said too that the Ministry of Public Works had also done some emergency work close to where the Abary/Profitt project was being undertaken to ensure that they were “protected from the Diwali Spring [tide].”
Other emergency work was also expected to be done at Hope, West Berbice, another “threatened area.” The official admitted that the last flooding was “because of the lapse of the contractors.”
He opined that the contractors were “given too many projects and took the sea defence work too lightly. We are below sea level and they need to understand that…”
