A $28.5M pump at Anna Regina is among the drainage structures the Agriculture Ministry is rehabilitating in keeping with its goal of ensuring food security.
On Monday, Minister Robert Persaud commissioned the Anna Regina pump in Region Two, a main agricultural area in the country. According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release $409M was made available in May to renovate the Dawa pump station which has a 40-year lifespan. The four pumps are providing drainage for about 50,000 acres which is of particular benefit to about 2,000 farmers, primarily rice farmers. In June, the Westbury sluice was commissioned.
In addition to these major interventions over the past year, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) has been engaged in a number of projects in the region.
These include construction of scour protection at La Union outfall channel at a cost of $72M; raising of earthen embankment at Lily Dale/Macedonia, Lower Pomeroon – $7M; raising of embankment at the Ituribisi conservancy – $5.9M; construction of timber revetment at Riverstown-$6.4M, construction of Charity sluice $36M, and construction of Westbury and Golden Fleece sluices – $290M. Additionally, four excavators and one pontoon were deployed to the region.
Regional Chairman Ali Baksh said the Anna Regina pump would benefit about 15,000 families. Persaud and his team visited Cozier where a successful testing of the pump was carried out. The minister said rehabilitating the pump is to aid in its diversification drive since most farmers and residents are growers of non-traditional crops.
At the same time, NDIA Chief Executive Officer Lionel Wordsworth said the pumps at Anna Regina and Cozier would discharge 120 cubic feet of water per second. He said the new engines had to be installed, sluice doors repaired, pump houses constructed as well as the building of perimeter fences for both pumps. Wordsworth said the pumps were taken from the Dawa pumping station and were rehabilitated under the ministry’s initiative, with new components and installed at these two sites. He also said that currently the ministry is involved in the erection of five sluices along the coast in Regions Three, Five and Six.
According to GINA, the minister said the work done in Anna Regina is in keeping with the ministry’s wider strategy to have better drainage and irrigation channels. Persaud said his ministry has been involved in resuscitating the drainage and irrigation systems that had been neglected for 30 years. He added that the ministry is also looking at areas where drainage capacity could be improved.
Persaud said in the 1980s and early 90s there was a decline in agriculture and as a result there was a breakdown of physical structures that were needed to the sector. Government undertook restoration of basic infrastructure in areas such as Essequibo and Demerara in order to revamp the sector.
The minister said farmers are facing new challenges with the advent of climate change and government is hoping to mitigate negative effects by expanding drainage capacity. He urged them to contribute to the rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of such facilities since it would aid in sustainability and support to these structures.
The minister said within the Aurora area about 5,000 acres of land would be opened to farmers. This would require a design and establishment of a drainage and irrigation network that would cost about $1B.
Persaud also visited La Union sluice where 7,000 acres of farmland would benefit from a drainage and irrigation project which would include a scour protection defence. The team also visited Marlborough and Little Try Best.
