Latest update April 28th, 2026 12:30 AM
WE NEED A NEW MINISTRY
Flooding has been a historical phenomenon in Guyana. We have had floods in this country since colonial days and despite the great efforts made by the then authorities, houses along the coast had to be built on stilts because during the rainy season there was widespread flooding.
On Thursday there was high intensity rainfall for a few hours. This rainfall began just after the high tide commenced and ended just before the next low tide. This coincidence meant that there was nowhere for the water to go and thus it accumulated on the land.
The losses were significant. Many businesses were unable to keep the water out of their stores. Storeowners lost sales and they lost stocks. Some of them had to expend money to buy sandbags to prevent further damage.
There was also a loss of business and shoppers hardly had any place to walk even after the showers had abated. Many workers had to be sent home to fight flood waters entering their homes. And in many rural areas, crops were submerged.
This has been the tale of heavy rains in Guyana for decades. It is not new. But impatience is brewing as people expect things to change.
The infrastructure that we have in place was never capable of draining more than 2 inches of rainfall in 24 hours. And that was during the days – the colonial days – when the authorities understood the importance of maintaining drainage systems. Today this system is seriously compromised, a situation made worse by widespread squatting in many areas and overcrowding in others.
Maintaining the existing system will make a significant impact on the run-off of water. It is estimated that simply increasing the discharge at the major outfall channels by 20% will result in the reduction of hundreds of millions in losses in the Agricultural sector. A ten per cent increase in the discharge coupled with another ten percent improvement in secondary drains will also have a similar impact.
However, the cost of such improvement is phenomenal and unaffordable within the short term. It will cost tens of billions of dollars to restore the drainage system in Guyana to the level it was when it was at its peak, which it should be remembered, did not prevent flooding.
Such prevention requires a completely new system of infrastructural development, one that will work together with the properly maintained existing system to wipe flooding off the coast. The new outlet to the Atlantic, the outlet that is planned to drain the conservancy at its eastern end constitutes a beginning of that new infrastructure system.
The new outfall is expected to cost the Government some four billion dollars. A much larger sum will be needed to dredge the mouths of the Mahaicony and Mahaica Creeks. An even larger sum would be required to bring the Abary Creek to life. Much more will be needed to rehabilitate the existing system to bring it to the level it was at Independence.
Guyana unfortunately cannot wait an eternity for these things to happen. Each year billions and billions of dollars are lost because of flooding in Agricultural areas. Farming is more risky than investing in CLICO. Each year farmers take a chance, a big chance when they go to crop. Whatever money they may make in a lucky year is quickly wiped out in the next because of flooding.
The lands on the coast are also being exhausted. These lands have been worked for centuries and most need to be either rotated or retired. Unfortunately, there are not much new lands which are available and which are well drained.
And so the choices are limited. Farmers have to make the most of the lands they have, but poor drainage threatens to make this task unviable.
The Government therefore must address the existing system. Local authorities cannot be expected to deal with drainage or irrigation. The task is beyond them. Also this ridiculous notion of a Water Users’ Association as a means of devolving administration needs to be abandoned. It is only multiplying the problems of the system.
What is needed is a centralized system and a centralized plan, one with a short-term, medium-term and long-term focus. For this reason it is being suggested here that the President of Guyana considers carefully placing drainage and irrigation as a spate ministry rather than having it under the Ministry of Agriculture.
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