PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo and the Government yesterday committed to a full investigation into the breach of the East Demerara Conservancy dam, as efforts to provide food and medical relief to Cane Grove residents, hard hit by resulting floodwaters, were set in high gear.

An Office of the President official told the Chronicle that at Cabinet's statutory session yesterday, President Jagdeo said a full investigative team will be set up by the end of the week.

On Saturday, the Head of State warned that those responsible for the breach will have to pay.

Construction firm B&K, which was given a three-phase contract of G$360M to strengthen the conservancy dam, completed inserting sheet piles to seal the breach at around 01:00 hrs Monday. B&K has since begun its backfilling and reinforcing operation.

In the housing and farming community of Cane Grove, water has receded nicely.

At the Coconut Dam and Estate areas, the water was almost completely off the land by yesterday afternoon.

Saywah, which was first hit by the rising conservancy waters on Saturday when the dam broke, is still under a considerable amount of water and is high on the list for assistance from the Government.

Yesterday, two heavy-duty truckloads of food hampers were distributed to residents who expressed thanks for the assistance.

A list of 730 families was drawn up by the Cane Grove Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), and distribution of the hampers was coordinated by the Guyana Defence Force.

The hampers consist of basic food items, including rice, flour, sugar, peas and oil, and have enough to last a family of five for about a week, according to Major Nazrul Hussain.

The only non-food item supplied to the residents was disinfectant.

At the Strathavon Community Centre, the headquarters of the Army's activities at Cane Grove, three officers and five ranks were in action yesterday.

The Army presence at Cane Grove was also helping in the monitoring of the conservancy dam for any possible weak areas.

Major Hussain, who oversees the Army operations, told the Chronicle that from the time they arrived on the scene Saturday, they were prepared for an extensive evacuation exercise but this did not happen.

"The people had indicated that they wanted to leave, but really and truly the situation didn't dictate that they leave," he said.

Most of the Army's evacuation exercise was concentrated on schoolchildren attending the Bygeval Multilateral School. They were transported Monday and yesterday morning by truck to school.

But with the water off the road, normal modes of transportation can be used once again and this exercise will not continue.

The Army's health post had by yesterday treated 20 persons for minor ailments, including rashes and cough and cold.

The Ministry of Health's activities at the Virginia Primary School are to be shifted to the Cane Grove Health Centre from today, District Medical Officer, Dr. Shanti Singh said.

Singh, along with two community health workers, two medexes, one clinic attendant, three nurses and two health visitors, as well as residents of Cane Grove, form the Health Ministry's emergency medical team in the area.

She said that oral dehydration salt, used for diarrhoea, was distributed to most households in Cane Grove.

Twenty-eight gallons of bleach were also distributed to purify drinking water.

By about 15:00 hrs yesterday, the health officers had vaccinated some 101 persons with Diphtheria, used for whooping cough, and Tetanus.

"The place is flooded, so you are going to have that risk of people being stuck with bottles. The injection is to prevent them from developing tetanus", Director of Regional Services at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Khemdat Umadat, told the Chronicle.

"Seventy-five other patients were treated for itching. We were worried about diarrhoea, but today (yesterday) we have had only two cases. This gives an indication that people are taking precautions," he said.

He was positive that the heath situation at Cane Grove was stable.

Meanwhile, the Guyana Water Authority (GUYWA) is doing its part in ensuring that immediate relief is brought to the affected residents.

The Cane Grove pump station is being run for 24 hours consistently. This is to ensure that the pipelines would always be kept primed with water to reduce the possibility of the water becoming contaminated, according to GUYWA.

The agency, nonetheless, is advising residents to either boil the water or add a little bleach.

Early Monday morning there were low voltage power problems and the pump could not be activated. GUYWA then arranged to have in place a mobile generating set to ensure that the pump station is always working.

When the flooded areas are completely drained, GUYWA intends to flush out and disinfect the pipelines to ensure that the water supply returns to its potable state.

GUYWA has water tenders taking treated water into the affected areas to be distributed to residents round-the-clock.