While most of yesterday saw cloudy skies and minimal rainfall in some parts of Guyana, the water began to recede in most of the flood affected communities.Though fair weather was predicted for the past weekend by the Hydromet offfice, the country still experienced heavy rainfall in many areas, and more persons became victims of flooding.The Maduni Sluice which allows water to be channeled from the East Demerara Water ConservancyRiverain areas, particularly, Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary, the Pomeroon and upper reaches of Canal Numbers One and Two, still remained under water although the level of water at the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) has dropped.At present, the water level at the EDWC is at 58.50 Gradium (Gd).Kaieteur News understands that the situation on Monday was deemed “dangerously threatening” with a reading of 58.60 Gd, causing panic among residents of several low lying communities.It was even recommended that the Lama Sluice be opened to avoid breakages/ breaches on the EDWC dam to go along with the releasing of water through the Maduni sluice.Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, in an interview with Kaieteur News, stated that there were no breaches or breakages along the EDWC dam.Since more rain is expected until the end of March due to the La Nina Phenomenon, it is also expected that the water level will rise if the rainfall is continuous.This will inevitably result in the Lama Sluice being opened to assist in the drainage process.“If the water rises above 58.50 Gd, the Lama Sluice is under consideration to be opened, like yesterday (Monday), when it was 58.60Gd and rising. The recommendation was made to me since then to open but I wanted to wait. Now the water level is dropping and it is at 58.50Gd. Hopefully no more rain and it will continue dropping and there is no need to open the Lama Sluice… As for the damages, we know damages so far but the overall damages will not be determined until sometime later,” said Dr. Ramsammy.He explained that the main focus is to save the rice crops and livestock (animals) in areas where the cash crops are already destroyed.All excavators, sluices and pumps are operational and technical staff has been deployed across the country.This newspaper understands that since the flooding began, engineers have been stationed and are working around the clock in various areas to monitor the situation.
