Agri Minister meets with Mocha Farmers to address flooding at farmlands

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha on Monday met with farmers at Mocha village, East Bank Demerara.

A release by the Ministry said persistent rainfall over the last few days has resulted in flooding in sections of the farming areas in Mocha and other communities along the East Bank corridor.

As such, the farmers related that their farms have been severely affected. The Minister, while engaging the farmers, said that a team of engineers attached to the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) and the Ministry of Housing and Water will visit affected areas to conduct a thorough assessment of the landscape to determine the most effective means to address the flooding.

“Our engineers, along with engineers from the Ministry of Housing, are here and they will be visiting all of the affected areas to see what is needed to address the flooding issues.

“We already have a machine in the area working. When the report is complete, we’ll be able to say what short-term and other measures can be put in place to deal with this situation,” Minister Mustapha said.

He said the engineers are expected to complete their preliminary report by the end of the day.  Appropriate measures to bring relief to those affected will follow.

In addition, Minister Mustapha said confirmed that extension officers from the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) and the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) are currently gathering information to carry out an assessment. This is a separate assessment to determine the losses of farmers to determine the best way forward for them, the release said.

Over the past two days, Minister Mustapha has been visiting flood-affected areas to meet with residents along the East Bank of Demerara.