Is the worse yet to come? Mahaicony residents fear more high tides
Residents along the coastland in the Mahaicony District are not convinced that the worst is over, even though the last high tide was supposed to be on Wednesday. They have been watching the water levels and have observed a rise between the 06:00 and 08:00 hours yesterday morning, when a reporter of this publication attempted to venture out to the seashore to observe the extent of the “breach” of the sea defence. However a few hours later the water receded. At around 12:00 hours the dam leading out to the seashore was accessible to the only vehicle available, which was able to manoeuvre through the thick mud: a tractor. A few farmers decided to tag along for the bumpy, messy ride, which turned out to be way more eventful than expected.
On both sides of the dam there were yellowing fields of rice flooded with salt water. The farmers informed that the floods came when the rice was close to cutting time. The water stayed, and most of the harvest rotted. “Most millers gun reject this damage rice and we can’t use it for seed paddy, most likely we gun have to sell it as fowl feed,” one farmer lamented. It is estimated that none of the farmers in the area lost less than $4M, to the sea waters.Some distance before crossing over the bridge at the Bellamy Canal, a hymac operator was observed packing mud to build a sort of wall to entrap the sea water to prevent more flooding. This publication was informed that the residents had been at this for days, as the water kept washing the ‘dam’ away. With the tide that was expected last night they were worried that the freshly packed mud wouldn’t hold.
Over the canal and on to the seashore, everyone had to disembark and the mile and a half walk in the blazing sun to locate the breach and to see the extent of the damage done to the defences. Approximately 10 minutes into the trek that took us over washed-up and dead mangroves and evidently dislocated granite boulders, the first breach was spotted.
(Kaieteur News)