Mahaicony Creek rice farmers lose millions to flood waters

Aug 20, 2019 News

Rice farmers at First Savannah, Mahaicony Creek, are blaming the authorities at the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) for causing them to lose over $7M in bearing rice crop that has recently been destroyed by flood waters.

The flooding has indeed taken its toll at First Savannah, Mahaicony Creek

Rice farmers Ramchand Bhola (left) and Ramcharran Joshan are claiming that there have been losses of at least $7M to flood waters

Yesterday, a group of farmers visited this publication and claimed that they have been neglected for almost eight years, during which time they were “begging and pleading” for improved drainage and irrigation in the area.
They said a dam that was supposed to be completed to prevent flood waters from getting to their rice crops has been left unfinished for several years now, thus causing rising waters during heavy rainfall to flood their rice fields.
The farmers said that in one instance, 150 acres of bearing rice plants were destroyed, while 60 acres of land with very young rice plants came under flood waters, thus destroying the entire expected crop.
They claimed that for years now the MMA/ADA has stopped cleaning a main irrigation canal in their neighbourhood, and it has become overgrown with weeds, shrubs and even bush, preventing any form of free flowing of water. They said as a result, even the canal overflows its banks, and does not allow excess water to seep out of their area, as would have happened if the canal was properly maintained.
They said that the MMA/ADA has cleaned areas but stopped up to Garden Table Village, an adjacent community in the Mahaicony Creek, and did not go further, despite the pleas and lamentations of the farmers in First Savannah.
The farmers said that for other areas to be attended to, they had to form large bodies and lobby their cause at the MMA/ADA Berbice office before any action would be taken.
Farmers Ramchand Bhola and Ramcharran Joshan said that when they approached the MMA/ADA office only last week, they were again promised that works will begin in their area, but nothing has happened until now. The men said that in some areas, the MMA/ADA has solicited the assistance of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), who allowed them to use machinery (belonging to the NDIA) to effect proper drainage in other areas. They said that despite their efforts, the machinery was not sent to their area at all.
The farmers are claiming that their area has been neglected for many years and are calling on the Government to intervene on their behalf.
When the MMA/ADA office was contacted yesterday, sources there said that systematic works have been ongoing in the Mahaicony Creek and Mahaicony River areas, and First Savannah farming areas are also on the list for works to be done.