Saturday's massive flooding in Caparo and environs will speed up the Government's plans to construct the Mamoral Dam, according to residents. After heavy rain on Friday, and throughout Saturday, several parts of Caparo, Mamoral, Sharpe Road, Chickland Road, Santa Phillipa Road and parts of Brasso Caparo Valley Road were impassable, leaving hundreds of farmers, shoppers and students stranded.
People who travel on the Brasso Caparo Valey Road to such communities as Mamoral Crossing, Mamoral Nos 1 and 2, Flanagin Town, Sharpe Road, Brasso, Tabaquite and Rio Claro had to wait several hours until the ravaging waters subsided from as high as four feet at some points. Finance Minister Winston Dookeran announced last week that construction of the Mamoral Dam was among several major infrastructural projects to commence in 2011.
Caparo has been one of the most affected areas when it rains heavily, and the major course of the irritation is the Caparo River which has been reduced to canal status because the previous government had failed to address the much-needed hydraulic works. A wedding function at Carr Trace and a parang festival had to be curtailed because of?the flood waters.
MPs for the Caroni Central constituencies, Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh, Minister of the People and Social Development, and Jairam Seemungal, Minister in the Ministry of Legal Affairs, visited the affected areas and got Cepep workers and ODPM officials to assist affected families.?
"We expect that Mr Dookeran, because of his humanitarian spirit, will ensure that the Caparo River, the Mamoral Dam and other ancillary water courses will be completed so as to relegate floodings as an issue of the past," an official of the Caparo Village Council said.
Farmers have complained of heavy losses to their agricultural produce, and several residents complain of losses to their livestock and kitchen gardens.