Farmer: Water still on fields in Aranguez

FARMERS in Aranguez are still experiencing water in their fields following the heavy rains over the weekend, as clearing efforts continue in the area.

One farmer told Newsday that clearing efforts by the regional corporation were still ongoing closer to the highway at 1 pm on May 20 when they checked their lands.

“The councillor said they would have brought the equipment on Sunday (May 18) and started on Monday morning (May 19), but the equipment came after lunch on Monday. They didn’t start where they said they would and went somewhere else to clean.

“He said he was clearing lower down so the water could pass, but I think if they had done from where the water had to run off and went up, whatever rain fell again, the water would be able to pass through and get out, as we had an issue yesterday again where the water was rising.”

The farmer said they were still pumping water out of the four acres of land they owned daily. They said they didn’t know how far the clean-up efforts had reached when Newsday contacted them at 6 pm.

In a statement on May 20, Rural Development and Local Government (RDLG) Minister Khadijah Ameen said the ministry’s flood mitigation exercise remained in full operation across the 14 municipal corporations.

“In fact, additional equipment is going out to some of the regions. This morning (May 20), we will have meetings in Penal/Debe to deal with some critical areas. The Prime Minister has issued equipment in that area to clear some watercourses that have not been cleared in many years.

“We also have identified areas where a failing infrastructure needs to be addressed, so we will be meeting and planning how we go forward with that.”

Ameen further urged all Municipal Corporations to maintain a strong focus on flood mitigation and disaster preparedness. She said shelters were currently being prepared in the most vulnerable areas, with trained shelter managers already assigned and standard operating procedures reviewed and discussed.

“What I am grateful for is the response of all the agencies, the disaster units, the regional corporations, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Agriculture. I am grateful that during the period of the yellow level alert we were able to identify several critical areas that require our intervention.”

She thanked all agencies involved, including the Disaster Management Units, Municipal Corporations, the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries.