17 days and counting 

… ‘Poppy Show’ Landing under water, businesses hit hard

By Alva Solomon

Since May 31, 2021 the small business community of Poppy Show Landing in the Mazaruni has been under water and residents there are calling for any assistance the authorities can offer.

The small mining village of 15 to 20  homes has seen the waters of the Mazaruni River rise to unprecedented levels , and to date, no one in authority has visited the area.

A small businesswoman at the community told the Village Voice News that rains poured during the last week of May at the community and within days, she observed the water was rising sharply. “It’s really bad at our end we never expected so much flooding ,” she said , noting that it’s the worst flooding the area has seen in decades.

She noted that there are boutiques, grocery shops and fuel retail vendors who are counting millions in losses. The area is a prime stop off point for miners since it is close to the mining areas of the Mazaruni River.

The businesswoman said she has lost her entire stock and according to her , the situation is extremely bleak since the rains are still pouring in the area.” It looks like we’ll have this for the month or more cause the rain still falling in and out,” she said.

She said that regional officials from Bartica visited several areas along the river but they are yet to reach Poppy Show Landing to assess the situation there. “They went to bottom side like Issano,Semoung,Tassarine but not at our side,” she noted.

Many persons have moved further uphill and built little camps as a temporary measure but as the days go by, the losses pile up. ”I still have my family to maintain,” she added.

Poppy Show Landing is located some 5 to 10 minutes from the Olive Creek airstrip. The airstrip has been flooded and as such many businesses, which depend on flights to ferry their goods, have been impacted heavily by the flood waters.

Guyana’s flooding has been declared a national disaster by the Government . According to a proclamation made by President Irfaan Ali, as of June 7, 2021, a total of 28,228 households were affected by flooding, some with water entering their homes, domestic animals and livestock in distress or farmlands inundated.

The country’s Hinterland regions have felt the brunt of the flooding with waters rising to more that 8 feet in some low lying areas. The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) has been working around the clock to bring relief to flood affected areas.