President Ali announces immediate flood relief for Mahaicony Creek farmers

Intense rainfall over the past several weeks has left hundreds of acres of farmland and households along Mahaicony Creek in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) severely affected.

President Dr Irfaan Ali on Wednesday visited the affected communities, including Branch Road, Mahaicony, to assess conditions on the ground and meet directly with affected farmers and residents.

“I am here to speak to you and to listen to you mostly on some of the challenges [and] some of the things that [are] working,” the president told farmers.

President Ali acknowledged that while water volumes this time exceed those seen during the 2021 floods, the condition is less severe, a reflection, he said, of the drainage investments made since then.

“We are in a better position now because of the investment we have made already,” President Ali said, adding that the completion of the Hope Like Canal would bring further improvement to the area.

He also directed the Regional Chairman, Ricardo Dwain, Vice Chair Kleon Lindey, and the newly appointed Regional Executive Officer (REO), Mary Samaroo, to visit the creek on a monthly basis, insisting that officials must engage communities regularly and not remain confined to their offices.

Interventions were already underway on the ground. NDIA Chairman Lionel Wordsworth said five excavators had been deployed to help farmers raise dams, open runways and install culverts, while 18 farmers were engaged to use their own tractors to assist in removing floodwaters.

A pump was relocated from Garden Table to the Mahaicony Creek river mouth, and a new pump was also deployed to the affected area. Equipment was additionally dispatched to raise the embankment along the Jagdeo Canal, a 15,000-acre stretch extending to the frontlands.

President Ali committed to three further interventions for farmers at Branch Road. They include rehabilitation of kokers (sluices), increasing pump capacity, and clearing of the main drainage canals.

Also accompanying the President were Minister of Education Sonia Parag and Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture Vikash Ramkisson. [Department of Public Information]