Region 9 flooding… Authorities grapple with relief efforts to far-flung villages

Jun 09, 2011 News

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– trucks stuck for days on Lethem trail

The rains have held up in the flood-stricken Region Nine with attention now concentrating in moving critical food and other supplies to isolated villages.
According to Nigel Dharamlall, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government, who is helping to coordinate relief works from a base in Lethem, two planeloads of food and other critical supplies, each taking 1,000 pounds, were flown in from the city yesterday with another two expected today.
Kaieteur News understands that an army plane was too large to take supplies to the Lethem runway, part of which is underwater. Another aircraft was being sourced.
While water levels have shown a drop, levels remained high in the Pirara area, along the Lethem trail with a bridge there still under four feet of water, effectively closing the trail to Linden.

In Lethem itself, the water levels have dropped but in outlying areas, the waters coming from the mountains have shown a rise.
While Kaieteur News reported Wednesday that over 1,600 farms have been affected, authorities yesterday stated that the acreage under water was some 1,7000.
Stuck trucks
Seven trucks, including two from construction firm, BK International, were reportedly stuck since last Thursday between Linden and Annai, before help came. The trucks, some with cement for the GBTI bank, are now reportedly making their way to Pirara, located some 22 miles from Lethem, where tractors and other equipment are helping to shuttle cement, fuel and other critical supplies in.
Yesterday, a cassava mill for the Aishalton village whose residents are battling to save cassava and corn from around 100 farms, was flown in from the Ministry of Agriculture. That village which buys supplies from mainly Lethem, will now have to depend on flights to the areas.
Food supplies have been taken to several other villages with boats, where vehicles are impossible to maneuver.
“We have been continually testing the waters and there are no causes for alarms. We have also set up water gauges to check the levels in key areas around Region Nine. You could say the situation is under control,” Dharamlall said.
Massive mobilisation
The relief efforts have seen a massive mobilisation from government agencies, the private sector and volunteer groups.
Already, the Private Sector Commission has established accounts at GBTI and Republic Bank.
According to Roubinder Rambarran, PSC’s Executive Director, the Chamber of Commerce in Berbice has planned two telethons with several other sectoral and corporate members planning activities over the coming days.
The Red Cross, Civil Defense Commission, Food for the Poor and several government Ministries including Agriculture, Public Works, Local Government, Health and Amerindian Affairs are also involved with the army on call.
As of yesterday, there were nine shelters with almost 150 persons comprising 46 families in Lethem.
Several homes have been abandoned and schools converted to shelters.
On Tuesday, President Bharrat Jagdeo announced the release of $50M for emergency relief efforts to be spent on roads, bridges and emergency supplies.
Critical Supplies
Water purifiers, medical supplies and containers were also being distributed to residents, many of whose homes were covered by flood water not seen for a while.
Supplies, including life jackets, generators and water cans, were leaving Lethem yesterday also for Aishalton, Sand Creek and Karasabai.
The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company, which yesterday announced that it has reduced rates to $1 per minute for calls from its Lethem cell site to its subscribers, was yesterday also coordinating with authorities to establish downed communication links to Sand Creek, an affected village that has over 800 persons living.
According to the Ministry of Health yesterday, teams continue to be on alert at all hospitals and health posts. Medical outreach teams were at Tabachinga and St. Ignatius.
?The Regional Nine Health Officer and his team have compiled a listing of all near-term pregnant women and made arrangements to get these persons closer to the Lethem Hospital, in case of emergency.

On Tuesday, Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn, admitted that the re-opening of the Linden/Lethem road, a key trading route between Guyana and Brazil, may take a while because of several sections that are under water.
Repairs
Contractors are currently mobilising equipment for repairs once the water levels drop.
Several bridges and approaches have been significantly damaged.
On Tuesday, a number of Government officials including Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud; Minister of Transport, Robeson Benn, and General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Donald Ramotar; were in the region to assess the situation as emergency workers continue to fan out across the communities.
Benn had been there since Sunday.
Of immediate concerns to authorities now is fuel, the supply of which has been dwindling but it is the plan to take trucks carrying barrels as far along the Lethem trail as possible and shuttle the rest of the way to that border area.
The power company there has fuel to last a week.
Overhead flights of the Linden/Lethem trail Tuesday revealed huge areas under water, with engineers reporting at least four to five feet of water in some sections.
Shops also reported that supplies are running low, with the road to Lethem impassable.
Residents were assured that more supplies would be flown in as early as today.
The army’s Bell 206 helicopter, which was scheduled to be sent in yesterday to assist with relief efforts, will be in today, Dharamlall disclosed.
Officials are blaming the flood waters on heavy rains in the past few weeks in Northern Brazil, especially in the State of Roraima, which caused the banks for the Rio Branco, Rio Negro, Takutu and Ireng Rivers to overtop.
Almost 60 per cent of Lethem is flooded, Government reports said Tuesday. The Rio Branco River on the neighbouring Brazil side is said to be about 30 feet over its high-level mark, a worrying fact. Brazil reportedly has similar relief efforts underway with overhead flights showing the Takutu River which borders Lethem and BonFin overtopping the banks.
Four bridges along the Annai/Lethem strip are said to be damaged while further in the deep South area, approaches to two structures at Araqui and Kabanawau have collapsed. A deck of the Najah Bridge has also been washed away.
While the Lethem runway is operational, the apron is under water. The Sand Creek runway, which is flooded, is out of operation. Several government buildings including the Amerindian Hostel and the Nurses Hostel have been converted to shelters.
Residents continued yesterday to experience blackouts, with the station still under four feet of water. St Ignatius is reportedly still without power.
Regarding water, Minister Benn disclosed that half of Lethem has been restored with supplies. Culvert City is without potable water. However, supplies are being trucked in to this area.
Over 500 head of cattle were moved to higher ground.

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