Over 460 acres of rice within the Sparta, Windsor Castle and Hampton Court backdams in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) are currently affected due to excessive water. This was reported by Regional Vice Chairperson, Nandranie Coonjah, at the Regional Democratic Council’s (RDC) statutory meeting for the month of June.
Coonjah in a report to the RDC stated that over 160 acres of low lands in the Sparta area and 300 acres in the Windsor Castle and Hampton Court areas are inundated due to poor drainage, compounded with heavy rainfall. This, she said, is affecting farmers in those areas as 18,400 acres of rice lands were already sown.
Coonjah informed the Councillors of the RDC that farmers need help to drain water from the low lands.
After the presentation of her report, Region Two Chairman and head of the region’s RDC, Devanand Ramdatt, said a team comprising engineers and officials from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) visited the areas recently and inspections were conducted. Ramdatt said he had communicated with Agriculture Minister Noel Holder on the issues affecting the farmers and in response, the Minister said the NDIA would be repairing the Hampton Court sluice. Ramdatt said currently, the areas have three sluices, however, only one is operable, thus contributing to poor drainage.
He however opined if the sluices are maintained then that could bring relief to the affected rice farmers.
