THE National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) office at Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice, Region Five, which is soon to be opened, aims to bring much- needed relief to farmers and residents, both in periods of floods and droughts.

Work on the office situated next to the headquarters of the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary/ Agriculture Development Authority (MMA/ADA) started last year and has since been completed.

NDIA acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) David Hicks, said all that is needed now is electricity connection to make the building operational.
The office will be manned by a senior NDIA engineer, who will be assisted by ancillary staff. The engineer will support the MMA/ADA, the Regional Democratic Council and the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils in the region to implement and monitor projects aimed at increasing the discharge capacity of rain-induced floodwaters in the region and provide irrigation for agricultural purposes during El Nino (drought) weather conditions.

“In Region Five, we intend to upgrade the drainage system and make better provisions for drought and the office is set up to achieve these goals. The NDIA knows that farmers anywhere who have a 50 per cent fear of losing their crops or livestock to floods or drought after cultivation, will not bother to farm. So the NDIA in Region Five in particular will do the work and support the agencies in doing whatever is necessary to boost farmers’ confidence in the drainage and irrigation system and have them feel enthused to cultivate and even expand their production of crops and livestock within the region.”

Some of the major projects the NDIA office in Region Five will spearhead and support in 2018 include the upgrading of resuscitated sea sluices along the West Berbice coast; the establishment of additional sluices; and provision of another electrical drainage pump for West Berbice at Trafalgar, West Coast Berbice.

The NDIA programme will also seek to increase the hydraulic efficiency of tertiary and secondary drainage systems in Region Five, with the provision of nine excavators which will be at the disposal of the regional administration for routine remedial and emergency works.

The NDIA office in Region Five will also seek to boost the efficiency of drainage in the riverine areas.

The polder from behind Pine Ground to Gordon Table, along the right bank of the Mahaicony River will be extended to protect cultivation plots from water seeping in from the backlands.
A dual-purpose pump at Mora Point, Mahaicony River, to be acquired from India will provide drainage or irrigation when necessary.

Other projects include infrastructure for replenishment of the Abary Conservancy with water from the Berbice River and the drawing down of water from the upper reaches of the Mahaica River at Kuliserabo, to provide supplies in the Perth /Biaboo Main Canal for the benefit of low-risk rice production aback of Mahaicony.

The NDIA will also fund the replacement of tail regulators for all the high-level irrigation canals within the MMA/ADA to ensure better management of irrigation water supplies.
Hicks said the MMA should be doing these and other works, but the NDIA is assisting the MMA because that agency currently does not have the financial resources.

The NDIA is urging farmers who receive drainage and irrigation services to pay up their rates to the authority, so that the agency can execute its mandate without hindrance.