Education Minister Sonia Parag on Sunday visited Branch Road in Mahaicony, where she spearheaded the distribution of 450-gallon water tanks to 74 households, acting on a directive from President Dr Irfaan Ali. According to a Department of Public Information (DPI) report, the distribution delivers on a commitment the President made during an assessment visit earlier this month to several flood-affected agricultural communities in the Mahaicony Creek area, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice). Weeks of intense rainfall had left hundreds of acres of farmland and scores of households along the creek severely affected. During that visit, President Ali had met with farmers and residents at Branch Road and other communities to hear their concerns and assess conditions firsthand.

The visit resulted in a broader package of relief measures for the area, DPI reported, noting that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) deployed five excavators to assist farmers in raising dams, clearing runways and installing culverts.

Additionally, 18 farmers were engaged to use their own tractors to drain floodwaters, while pumps were relocated and new units installed to improve drainage in affected lands. President Ali had also committed to rehabilitating kokers, increasing pump capacity and clearing the main drainage canals at Branch Road. The tanks, the DPI report stated, now give affected households greater capacity to store water as families in the farming community work to recover from recent flooding.