The Craig Milne/Victoria pump station which was rehabilitated at a cost of $61M by contractor Harrychand Tulsi was commissioned on Monday afternoon by Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.
Works on the structure included the replacement of the pump’s 750KVA transformer with a new 1000 KVA transformer, and increasing the pump’s drainage capacity by 50%.
The motor, pump and control panel of the structure were fully rebuilt while sections of the discharge pipe and the safety rail were replaced.
The pump station now has a pumping capacity of 300 cubic feet per second or 112,500 gallons per minute, GINA said.
The commissioning resulted from drainage and irrigation works undertaken by the Government within the Golden Grove/Victoria area at a total cost of $254M for the rehabilitation and or construction of 48 structures.
These include 16 heavy-duty bridges and 24 pedestrian bridges, 24 km of roads and main and secondary head regulators and an outfall sluice. According to GINA, over 5,000 acres of land will benefit from these improvements.
The drainage enhancements were carried out under the agriculture ministry’s Agriculture Support Services Programme (ASSP) which is financed by an Inter-American Development Bank loan. The project caters for critical agriculture works that provide support services to farmers.
“Our government takes the issue of ensuring that every single community in our country enjoys its fair share of development and progress, our government takes the issue of providing opportunities for all very seriously,” Minister Persaud told the residents.
And he noted that putting the infrastructure in place is meant to ensure that the Golden Grove/Victoria communities can go back to the land and be able to conduct their farming activities.
Persaud promised further Government interventions in the community as he assured them that an excavator will be provided for the purpose of completing earthen work in the area while one of the bulldozers will be arranged to assist in farm to market access as is required.
He also encouraged the residents to take ownership and be leaders of change in revitalizing and creating new opportunities in the community.
No community in Guyana should sit by and believe that its solution relies on Central Government and the Local Government system, he told them. There must be an integrated approached for development.
“This community is significant in our history so we must work together as fast as possible to ensure this community becomes a model community,” he added.
Under the ASSP initiative, GINA noted, a total of $2.02B has been spent rehabilitating and constructing 360 structures, 450 miles or 720km drainage and irrigation channels and 85 miles or 136km fair weather roads.
