2009 Budget accommodates compensation for flood victims

Jan 20, 2009 News

As some communities along the Coast continue to be under water, Head of State, President Bharrat Jagdeo, yesterday said, “We will continue to hold their hands through this process.”
Addressing the flood situation and the relief efforts, the President said that of the $100M that was set aside for assistance, some $16M has already been expended.
The comprehensive plan for the $100M includes the provision of seeds, chemicals, fertilizer, veterinary supplies, livestock feed, seed paddy, duckling, broilers and fuel.
“I want those communities, some of which are still under water, to know that the assistance that they have received, that’s not the end of it…there is still quite a bit of assistance to be disbursed to these places.”
On Saturday last, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud met with farmers in Supply, Unity and Victoria on the East Coast of Demerara, where he distributed agricultural supplies.
Plants, seeds, breeding animals, vouchers, veterinary supplies and chemicals were distributed to farmers.
Meanwhile, the Head of State has been in discussion with several donor agencies to seek the possible financing of the Conservancy Relief Channel.
Already, he added, for the Ministry of Agriculture, some $2B has been allocated in the 2009 Budget for the Conservancy Relief Channel at Hope, East Coast Demerara.
The Agriculture Minister said that while the relief channel will require $3B to design and construct, $2B has already been allocated in the 2009 Budget, and the other $1B will be included in the 2010 Budget.
The channel is a massive project that requires greater engineering capability than the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority currently possesses, and as such the contract will be given to an overseas company. But even as measures are being put in place for the construction of the channel, it will take at least 18 months to complete.
The Conservancy Relief Canal will be a minimum of 80 feet wide. Preliminary works have been carried out with the identification of a 300-foot wide reserve for the project.
This canal will be east of where the school is at Hope. The new structure will not go where the Hope outfall is; it will be a separate formation.
This structure is expected to bring relief to residents of Mahaica and Mahaicony communities, who are under flood threat each time the water level in the EDWC goes up to a critical point.
The EDWC is a freshwater reservoir located in Region Four, 15 miles south of the most densely populated section of Guyana’s coast.
It is bounded to the north by a 40-mile earthen dam structure built some 150 years ago by the Dutch, and to the south by the natural topographic rise composed largely of ancient coastal dune formations.
The area consists of a reservoir of approximately 550 hectares, and ranges in depth from 12 to approximately 15 feet along the dam.
(Tusika Martin)

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2009 Budget accommodates compensation for flood victims

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