Dear Editor,
In a letter captioned “Irrigation a major problem for farmers on the Essequibo Coast” (07.03.01) rice farmers on the Essequibo Coast have reported that due to a shortage of irrigation water they face the risk of losing their crops. Unfortunately, the shortage of irrigation water in this region is not due to natural causes but to poor planning and mismanagement in operating and maintaining the civil works of the Tapakuma Project.
Irrigation of the rice lands was designed for gravity feed from the main canal which is supplied by stored rainfall from the Tapakuma, Reliance and Capoey Lakes.
The maximum retention water level in these lakes is 59 E.D. and this level is not allowed to fall below 57.5 E.D. Whenever the hydrology of the system suggests that it will, the pumps at Dawa Pumping Station on the Tapakuma River start operation to maintain the water levels in the Tapakuma Lake/Main Canal at their minimum operating levels in order that irrigation could be supplied to the command area by gravity.
Unfortunately, the pumps at Dawa have been due for replacement a long time ago and some of the units may be currently out of commission and/or are operating well below their rated capacity.
Hence because stored water in the lakes has dropped below 57.5 E.D. and low water levels in the irrigation canals cannot reach the paddies by gravity, farmers have to resort to pumping, a very costly operation, to keep their crops alive. This is another example where incompetence and poor management of a drainage and irrigation project is threatening the livelihood of thousands of poor farmers living on the edge. It may well be asked why the replacement pumps have not been installed at Dawa as of now or who has authorized padlocking the regulator on Lake Reliance to prevent stored water in the Lake flowing into the main canal at this critical juncture?
The Government may be too preoccupied at this time with the Rio Summit and CWC which radiate more apparent international prestige and power for a few to divert its attention to address the desperate needs of the many poor rice farmers in the “Cinderella County” waiting fortuitously for a fairy godmother (probably the D&I Board) to intervene on their behalf to save them from an impending crisis of total/partial crop loss.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Sohan
