Latest update January 7th, 2025 4:10 AM
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Canje River residents forced to use contaminated discoloured water
Despite assurances that residents in the Canje River areas would not be affected by contaminated water from rice farmers in the area, this has proven not to be so.
Crawford holding up the two bottles with the differently coloured water from the Canje River.
Evidence of the contaminated and heavily discloured water has been obtained and was presented at the recently held Regional Democratic Council meeting on Thursday at the Regional Boardroom in New Amsterdam.
As a result of this residents continue to object to the installation of a Drainage Pump in the Canje River Area by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) which, when completed, will make the matter worse. This was after they were fooled by GuySuCo’s management that the pump would have been an irrigation pump.
The main opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has taken up the matter on behalf of the residents.
The party is contending that even before the GuySuCo operation commenced, the rice farmers, who recently started to cultivate areas close to the Canje River at a new location aback of No 52 Village, called the Youth Farmers Co-op, had been dumping thousands of gallons of contaminated water into the river, thus disrupting the lives of the residents.
These farmers use a lot of chemicals and have been erratically discharging the contaminated water from their rice fields into the Canje River. This new practice has begun to seriously affect the lives of the residents with many of them falling ill. Residents have been experiencing signs and symptoms not known to them before.
The government through The Ministry of Agriculture, led by Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, had dispatched a team to the area and had stated that they saw nothing wrong with the water. They had also stated that they were given assurances by the rice farmers that no contaminated water would be released into the Canje River.
When APNU had first protested against the installation of the pump back in December, it was unaware of the actions of the new found rice farming group. The political party, through its Region Six Lead Councilor Kerwin Crawford, had dispatched a missive in December 2013 to the Chairman of the underperforming GuySuCo, registering concerns and demanding a withdrawal of the project.
The main opposition party’s main bone of contention then was that the pump which will be installed at a cost amounting to millions of dollars will drain contaminated water from the GuySuCo cultivation into the Canje River, thus affecting the lives of thousands of residents in the Canje, New Amsterdam and Corentyne and Berbice River areas. The Canje River serves residents in East and West Canje, New Amsterdam and Corentyne.
According to APNU, after the Minister’s visit then, nothing was communicated to their party about any decisions taken. Now the situation has gotten worse with the rice farmers releasing heavily contaminated and discoloured water into the river. The ministry has since been informed and officials were expected to re-visit the area to assess the situation.
Crawford, who has been championing the cause of the residents of the Canje River area, had two bottles in his possession at the meeting, one with discoloured water and another with the regular river water to show what the residents have to endure.
APNU, he said, will be taking legal action against the farmers, the Government and GuySuCo on behalf of the residents. He said that, presently, a petition is being prepared to be sent to the relevant persons on behalf of the residents.
The party is also contending that the unfinished GuySuCo pump will be a waste since it is being built in a basin and will be flooded easily. The party is contending that the practice is not in line with EPA standards and questioned if the projects have been approved.
Regional Chairman David Armagon was not happy and issued a stern warning to members of the Co-op. He said that “the New Haven Co-op Society has fallen back on their word, despite giving assurance that no contaminated water would be released int the river. They gave assurance that the sluice would be close.”
He said that punitive action would be taken against those bent on breaking the law. He said that the Minister is apprised of the situation and is expected to deal with the issue as urgently as possible.
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