South Rupununi on brink of disaster
By Courtney Jones
Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo) is tottering on the brink of disaster. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Deputy Resident Representative, Andrea Tamagnini, made this dismal disclosure to reporters yesterday following a visit he made to communities in the deep North and South area of the Rupununi Savannahs, recently. "I would like to stress that of the communities that we visited, the communities in the deep South Rupununi, like Aishalton are the ones that are the worst off right now," the UNDP official disclosed. He said that there was death in Aishalton because of an epidemic of diarrhoea that has hit the community, adding that diarrhoea was a serious problems in the villages in the South. "I would say to give a judgement on the situation, we are really close to the edge," Tamagnini said. He said the water situation in the Southern Rupununi villages was much more critical than in the other villages in the North. "Flying over the area you could see really desolate scenes. There are no water holes anywhere. The streams are drying out," he said. According to Tamagnini, over the last two days it has been raining very heavily, a fact that has fuelled some hope that the long awaited "Mango rains" as they are called in the Rupununi are at long last here. "People are getting ready for planting and it would be important for them to be provided with the implements and inputs for planting," he advised. Tamagnini said the UNDP/World Food Programme had first visited Annai before meeting Amerindian captains from the North Rupununi at the Iwokrama Centre. He said the team was told by the Amerindian captains that their communities "were running out of food". "We were told that some families in some of the villages had already run out of food but they are being helped by other families," the UNDP official said. He revealed too that Amerindian captains were concerned about not being able to plant when the rains come since most of the villages had run out of cassava sticks for planting. These had actually dried up. "They were also asking for corn, peas and pumpkin seeds to be sent in adequate amounts for planting," Tamagnini said. He said his team was able to meet and have some discussions with Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Chief of Staff, Brigadier Joe Singh, and his team visiting the area and Region Nine Chairman Muacir Baretto. The UNDP deputy representative said meetings at Lethem included those with the Special Emergency Committee and they were told that some of the food that had been sent in had been distributed. On Sunday, a convoy of trucks left the Civil Defence Commission In addition, the "fast response" team co-ordinated by Guyana Lottery Company General Manager, Simon Wall, distributed supplies in the Rupununi including a quantity of the Amerindian staple, farine, purchased from Brazil. Tamagnini said that at Karasabai for example, rice had already been distributed and efforts were underway to get that and other supplies to the other villages. "Fortunately at the moment, the communities still have some provisions to go around, but it is vitally important that we do something very soon," the UNDP official said. Meanwhile, Head of the CDC, Major Ivan Alert said his commission was particularly pleased with the cooperation and support it had received from other service organisations in Guyana at this time. Apart from Region Nine, Major Alert conceded that the CDC had not been able to "get off the ground" as quickly as it would have liked in relation to the other regions. "You must realise that in Region One [Barima/Waini] for example the movement is principally by air or by boat and it's periodic. We would be taking up offers like one we have gotten from Barama to send in emergency supplies on their barge which leaves today," he said. Referring to reports that the CDC was planning to airlift water into Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni), Major Alert said there was no such plan at the moment. "There is a suggestion that we might have to do that and if it's feasible and the cost appreciation is done and we can do it, we will attempt to do it," he said. He, however, noted that that region had its own particular problems which might make the provision of pumps still not the answer to residents' water troubles. "What we might have to do is put in a water source close by a central community then we can fly in both the water and water inputs to surrounding villages," Major Alert explained. And as government continues to try to grapple with the effects of El Nino, Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) Chairman, Pariag Sukhai, said the administration had acquired a pump to pump water into the Boerasirie Conservancy from the Bonasika River on a 16-hour-a-day basis. The pump is located at the five-door Waramina Sluice and Sukhai says this has resulted in a raising of the level of the conservancy, thus saving a fair proportion of rice, sugar and cash crops. Sukhai said relief was also brought to livestock in the region. 
|