Major flooding not likely to hit crops
- officials project
by Mark Ramotar
Guyana Chronicle
January 4, 2005
OFFICIALS yesterday projected that the current rainy season which is expected to continue for the next two weeks will not cause any major flooding in agricultural areas along the coast.
However, if the high intensity rainfall continues, there are systems in place to guard against flooding, they said.
The assurances were given by officials of the Agriculture Ministry and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) at a news conference at the ministry in Georgetown.
Acting Agriculture Minister, Mr. Satyadeow Sawh, said there were no reported cases of major flooding in agricultural areas along the coast since the rainy season began.
He said all facilities within the Drainage and Irrigation Department and GUYSUCO are operating, except for minor hitches.
“There are no major problems and our conservancies are within limits and are continuing to be monitored,” Sawh said.
“The regions have not reported anything unusual so while there are some pockets of water on the ground still, our facilities are doing the job and there are no major reports of flooding anywhere in the country at this point in time.
“I am hoping that with these structures in place and with the efforts that our people are making now, we will be able to stave off any major accumulation of water.”
“The rains are here again. Traditionally, this is one of our two rainy seasons and we are having a lot of rains along the coast,” he noted.
He recalled that in November last year, he called a meeting with all major stakeholders in the sector and within the Agriculture Ministry to examine the state of preparedness for the rainy seasons in terms of drains and pumps, among other factors.
Yesterday, he said he was happy to report that 99% of the facilities in place were working effectively.
Sawh also reported that two new pumps were recently commissioned on the Corentyne and these are both working well, and as a result, "there is no flooding in the area today."
Chief Hydrometeorological Officer, Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Dilip Jaigopaul, said the current rainy season, which began in November, was a “mild El Nino period”, noting that it is predicted to end in two weeks.
He cautioned that there will be days of “high intensity rainfall” within the next two weeks but added that “not every day will we experience heavy rainfall."
He said there was a relatively late start to the rainy season but pointed out that there was no significant decrease in the amount of rainfall for last year, in comparison to previous years, in terms of accumulative annual total.
This means that the number of rain days had decreased and the number of dry days had increased, he said.
He explained that "if you had less rain days and the amount remains virtually the same, then the intensity of rainfall is going to be high."
In this regard, he alluded to the heavy downpours experienced recently and cautioned "we have to look out for the high intensity rain days within the next two weeks."
As it is, and looking at the May-June rainy season, Jaigopaul said, "the ‘El Nino’ situation as we experience now could also kick in.”
“My suggestion is that we are going to have just a normal rainfall period in the May-June rainy season but the question of high intensity rain days is also very, very possible.”
The Chief Hydrometeorological Officer also noted that the highest rainfall for December was recorded in the Botanical Gardens - 404.6 millimeters, and the highest rainfall experienced was five inches in one day.
Acting General Manager of GUYSUCO’s East Demerara Estates, Mr. Albert Katryan told reporters that GUYSUCO has 19 pumps available, 17 of which are working.
He said these are in addition several portable pumps, which in the event of emergencies, will be diverted from their present usage for back-up purposes.
Officials noted that in addition to these pumps, the Drainage and Irrigation Department also has its own mobile pumps.
Asked whether the catastrophic Asia Tsunami disaster might have had a bearing on the ‘high intensity rainfall’ experienced here, Jaigopaul said he does not believe this is the case, although it cannot be ruled out.
“The Tsunami is not what I would call an energy transfer mechanism in terms of heat…so I cannot see the relationship although global energies in terms of water as well as heat…have interactions in all aspects, because meteorology performs in every aspect and at all levels”.
He said that even a contribution in Guyana of a person increasing carbon dioxide could have an influence, “or something in the North Pole can have an influence on global weather because all of these things are integrated.”
“So one would not rule that out, but I would not say at this moment that it (Tsunami) had a direct impact on this weather at this time,” Jaigopaul added.
Among those at yesterday’s news conference were Permanent Secretary, Agriculture Ministry, Dr. Dindyal Permaul and Mr. Suresh Narayan of the Drainage and Irrigation Department.