No evidence of pollution of Canje Creek- Armogan

May 01, 2014 News

…future visit planned

By Leon Suseran

Region 6 Chairman Mr. David Armogan has said that during a recent visit to the Canje Creek communities, there is no evidence of pollution. He and Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, along with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and the CEO of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) visited the communities a few days ago to have a look at the situation and to meet with residents “to see to what extent they are being affected.”

However, during the visit “we haven’t seen any evidence of pollution, because at this time of the year, water is not released into the system because it is harvesting time.”

A protest was raised a few weeks ago by residents there after it was learnt that a number of residents in the area have been affected by contaminated water being pumped into the Canje Creek by rice farmers in the area. The Canje River serves residents in East and West Canje, Canje River, New Amsterdam, Corentyne and Berbice River areas.

Reports are that five residents have since died from what the residents are claiming is the contamination caused by the chemical in the water. Many of the illnesses were not diagnosed by the doctors.

But Armogan said that another visit will have to be planned in the near future when the water from the rice fields will be released into the Canje Creek, “because there is no evidence right now there to show. What the people are complaining about, is that when the farmers sow their paddies into the fields and once they (the paddies) fertilize and they (the farmers) throw chemicals and so on to kill snails and so on—those are pretty dangerous chemicals I was made to understand—and those things are released into the Canje Creek, what we find is that it affects the fishes and so on and besides that, those people depend on the water for all purposes…they don’t have any other source of getting water.”

At this point in time, the government, he added, has not been “definitely able to say that the water released from the rice fields in that area is the problem, because when we went there we haven’t seen anything to that extent, but the people have said to us that it wouldn’t happen all the time—only when the water is being released from the Canje Creek and that is not an everyday exercise.”

Armogan had stated firmly that farmers will not be allowed to disrupt the lives of the people in the area.

He however, mentioned that despite several warnings they continue to plant in the area and a decision was pending. He warned that firm action will be taken against those bent on doing their own thing.

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No evidence of pollution of Canje Creek- Armogan

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No evidence of pollution of Canje Creek- Armogan

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