Friendship Canal worsens in weeks

Apr 27, 2018 News

…residents plead for urgent Govt. intervention

“A boat trailing through a shallow and narrow passage way in the canal.”

Residents of Friendship, Lower Pomeroon River, continue to express their concerns about the developing situation of the Friendship Canal.
The canal which runs parallel to the Pomeroon River, remains silted up, and stagnant according to residents. Tall weeds now overrun the once 30-foot wide canal, leaving a mere seven-foot. trail for speed boats and canoes.
Residents claim that these tall weeds are trapping agents of soil residues, thus resulting in the build up of silt.
Kaieteur News understands that the canal was dug in 2001, from Aberdeen in the Pomeroon, to Charity, an approximate 65 miles. Residents are claiming however, that the canal has not been desilted for some 13 years.
Apart from being a great source for water for domestic purposes, this canal is also the only means of transportation in and out of the communities.
Due to its current condition, many residents find it difficult to get in and out of the area. One mother explain, “I have children who have to go to school and when they gotta go to school in the morning is really hard. The canal so block up that the boat and engine can’t cut through.
“When you think you can use the canoe you can’t even pass through how the water so low.”
Residents are concerned that in the cases of emergencies, it becomes difficult to transport patients out of the canal in a haste.
The community, being famous for its rich cultivation of cash crops and coconuts, is also dependent on the water for drainage. Sadly, since the main water way is already silted, flooding has eventually become a norm for most of the communities.
One farmer told Kaieteur News, “I been planting here for about 15 years now… I planting cash crops, some coconuts and bananas.
But by the drainage ain’t proper here, I gotta do the farming more regular. Sometimes, I get a boat to come in when the water fall to take out the produce. Sometimes, the canal block up so bad, boats can’t come in.”
Apart from being too shallow, the water is reportedly stagnant and polluted with coconuts, plastics and other waste items, which were dumped into the waterways. This has already had an adverse effect on the health of most of the residents living within the area.
According to residents, the stagnant water in the canal has already given rise to a mosquito infestation within the community, which in turn opens the way for dengue and typhoid.
Commenting on the issue, the Regional Chairman of Region Two, Daveanand Ramdatt, noted that efforts were made to procure funding for a macro project within the community.
According to Ramdatt, however, funds were not approved by central government.
The Regional Chairman added, “Admittedly, the canal should have been in a better condition…It’s a priority for the region and we would review our savings from our 2018 budget to see how best we can help to identify the priority area while we are looking to have the support from NDI.”
In the meantime, the residents of Friendship continue to cope with the harsh conditions heaped against them.
More than 30 families have already moved out of Friendship to other communities, leaving behind their homes and farmlands in an attempt to find more meaningful living conditions.
[Romario Blair.]

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