THE Army was on standby last night to help evacuate residents severely affected by floods sweeping through Cane Grove and nearby East Coast Demerara villages after a section of the East Demerara Conservancy dam collapsed before dawn yesterday.

The Health Ministry set up emergency medical facilities and said it was making arrangements to move pregnant women and seriously ill residents to safer boarding areas.

President Bharrat Jagdeo visited the affected districts and an official said he has ordered a full investigation into the serious breach and wants a report on his desk by tomorrow.

Residents claimed the dam, the level of which was recently raised, was not built to standard and it was only a matter of time before it was breached.

Officials said alternative sleeping accommodation and food were in place for those affected and the Police and Army were to be on patrol last night to assist residents with transportation.

The Government set up an emergency committee, consisting of key Cabinet Ministers and others, to get relief to some 4,000 affected residents in Cane Grove.

The National Drainage and Irrigation Board and the Ministry of Agriculture, with assistance from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) and B&K Construction Services, were expected to be working round the clock to seal the some 100-foot breach through which water was up to late yesterday flowing freely and forcefully into Cane Grove.

During the day, some 150 sheet piles were transported by pontoons to the breach site where B&K was operating with a dragline and excavator.

To complement drainage pumps at Cane Grove and Strathavon, an additional pump obtained from GUYSUCO was being deployed to help drain water from the residential communities and farmlands.

A Hymac was also in operation, breaking away dams to allow the water to flow into the Atlantic.

Once the conservancy dam was breached, the water did not take long to flood nearby communities, restricting residents to the upper flat of their houses and moving up whatever they had downstairs.

By 16:00 hrs (4 p.m.), the water was some four feet high and residents expected it to rise further.

"The situation is real bad," President Jagdeo observed as soon as he arrived at Cane Grove and looked over to the flooded community of Saywah, which was first affected and where some 300 families live.

It did not take long for the President to be bombarded with criticisms from residents against the contractors responsible for shoring up the conservancy dam which they said was breached at around 03:00 hrs (3 a.m.).

"Our immediate priority is to seal the breach and take care of people," Mr. Jagdeo responded, assuring that he will launch an investigation into the collapse of the conservancy and made it clear that those responsible will have to pay for the damage.

For Mr. Harry Algu, Chairman of the Cane Grove Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), the breakaway was almost certain.

"The dam was not built to standard," he told the Chronicle.

"It should not have been built with baggase, but it should have been built with clay. We (the NDC) had told the contractors that since May of this year. But nothing was done", Algu said.

Residents shared his observations, also noting that bamboo trees, which in the past helped to avoid erosion of the conservancy dam were uprooted when works were carried out to raise the level of the dam.

"This is the dry season," one resident told the President. "Imagine if it was the rainy season. And for that matter, the conservancy did not have that much water," he observed.

"I'm not making judgements," the President said.

"We pay people to oversee these things, and some contractors are hopeless" he added, once more sternly indicating that those responsible for the breach will be dealt with.

"We will take care of you," however, was the message the President took to the affected residents as he waded through water above his knees.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, Minister of Housing and Water, Mr. Shaik Baksh, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Mr. Harripersaud Nokta, Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy and Police Commissioner Floyd McDonald were among those on the ground to assess what help could be extended to the affected residents.

"How abey go come out a hey," one elderly woman, near to tears, shouted from her verandah to the President.

Mr. Mohanlall Dookie, a grocer, could not point to all that was damaged for him. He did not have space to pile up all the goods, and so some were simply left in the flood waters.

His neighbour helped him with storing some of the goods. However, everything could not be saved.

Packs of soft drinks in plastic bottles were left to float around. His cosmetics, over the counter drugs, household accessories and much more were left to go down the drain.

One youth asked the President, in his own style, where he and his friends would play cricket this weekend.

He obviously expected nothing but a sigh from the President as he passed the playground, recently fenced, at Saywah.

The common yard fowls (chickens) sought refuge on housetops as their pens were no longer available.

Some people wondered where their ducks would head.

With farmers also concerned about what would happen to their animals, President Jagdeo immediately asked the local authorities to determine a site where the animals could be housed, and promised assistance in transporting livestock from the farmlands.

Farmers said they went to their farms early yesterday morning and brought out whatever vegetables they could have, for they were almost certain that the flood waters would destroy their crops.

At the end of his assessment on the ground, Mr. Jagdeo flew over the area in a Guyana Defence Force helicopter.

After the inspection by the Government Ministers, Nokta announced the formation of the emergency committee to help affected residents.

A preliminary estimate put the number of those affected at 700 families, or some 4,000 residents. These are from Coconut Dam, Saywah, Manager's Line, Virginia and Virginia West.

The committee is headed by Algu and has its headquarters at the NDC office at Manager's Line. Ministers Nokta and Baksh are members of the committee.

Late yesterday afternoon, after its formation, the committee was busy trying to locate those residents hardest hit by the flood to offer them immediate relief.

Baksh said 100 beds are available at the Cove and John Women's Institute and were being set aside for those who have no place to sleep, with the flood waters in their homes.

Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Water Authority, Mr. Karran Singh, was also on the ground, and Baksh said the entity has undertaken to supply pure water to villagers who need.

The Emergency Committee was also expected to submit a list of essential food items for the Civil Defence Commission to take into the communities today. The NDC office is the centre for emergency relief where residents can show up to get assistance.

The last major breakaway of the East Demerara Conservancy reportedly was in May 1968.