Senior Multimedia Reporter
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
South Oropouche fishermen are renewing their call for the government to dredge and clean the South Oropouche River to stop the impending destruction of 300 acres of pastures and 165 acres of arable agricultural land.
Once over 50 feet in depth, the river has now been reduced to a two-foot-deep channel, making it impassable to fishermen during low tide.
Fisherman Raj Ramlal said since the government spent $12 million to repair breaches in the bank, the riverbed has become clogged and narrowed to a width of 12 feet as the embankment has collapsed.
The area behind the Kalco pumphouse at Tulsa Trace is badly eroded. The pumphouse was renovated two years ago yet the clamps on the pump’s outfall pipe were dislodged by the land slippage.
Ramlal said fishermen are unable to come up the river in low tide.
“Our boats get stuck in the mud so we can no longer pass here. This is a disaster waiting to happen. If the river cannot accommodate the volume of water, it will back up and bring floods throughout Debe and Penal,” he said.
President of the South Oropouche Riverine Flood Action Group Edward Moodie agreed that the $12 million works done by the Ministry had exacerbated the problem.
“Why is there no consultation with UWI engineers when contractors are doing this job? Everything they did has failed. Why are they not using the UWI resources to develop proper engineering methods? You can send to UWI the GPS mapping and they will tell you exactly what soil type there is in any area of Woodland which has 11 to 14 different soil types,” he said.
Moodie said the river is an important part of the South Oropouche Drainage Basin and if it cannot accommodate the flow, there will be a backup of floods in Penal and Debe when the rainy season comes and the volume of water as far as Moruga backs up.
“Rahamut Trace alone has 165 acres of agricultural lands. All of that will be wiped out if this river is not cleaned and properly dredged. They need to bring in the long-armed excavator and clear the river,” he said.
He explained that cattle farmers often have to transport their animals on boats when the flooding begins.
“We need gabion baskets to be used, piles on both sides. An old drainage map from the 1960s shows this is where the old river passed. These contractors are not using the drawings when they are developing engineering solutions,” he said.
The mayor of Siparia Doodnath Mayrhoo expressed concern that the breaches on the New Cut Channel will trigger massive flooding.
“We are in the middle of the dry season and we expect that work should have started already. We are expecting a very active rainy season and these breaches in this river will trigger severe flooding. The Ministry needs to get its act together,” he said.
Works Minister Rohan Sinanan said the Drainage Division is aware of the slippage at Tulsa Trace.
“The Ministry has engaged a firm to do a full geotechnical study of the area,” he said. “This study will determine the cause of the slip as well as the proper engineering solution to implement to repair the slippage.”