…283 farmers to benefit from the venture

By Indrawattie Natram

RESIDENTS living within the communities of Columbia, Aberdeen, Three Friends, Land of Plenty, Mainstay, Reliance as well as its immediate front lands, will now experience improved drainage and irrigation now that the Government of Guyana, through the National Drainage and Irrigation (NDIA) and the Ministry of Agriculture, has commissioned a $103M new state-of-the-art pump station at Three Friends Village.

The installation of the pumps will significantly reduce flooding in the area with its capacity of 240 cubic feet of water per second. The cost for the pump included the construction of two metal pump houses, two trash racks, two 1,100-litre fuel tanks, an access road, an operation house and a vehicle. The project was awarded to Samaroo’s Investment.

Addressing a large gathering of farmers, residents and governmental officials at the commissioning ceremony held at Three Friends, Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder said that his ministry has been concentrating on water management as a critical area of focus since the vast majority of the country’s agriculture is practiced in the low-lying Regions of Two, Three, Four, Five and Six. “Climate change is likely to cause extensive and chronic flooding, the inundation of valuable agricultural lands and loss of crops caused by increased frequency of heavy rain; these when compounded by rising sea levels will have negative effects on the drainage coefficient, this can result in a negative effect in Guyana’s economy, therefore we need to be able to mitigate these climatic changes where our water resources and management is concerned,” Minister Holder said.

Speaking about the pump station, Minister Holder said that the pump was placed strategically to benefit other locations including Columbia and Aberdeen. These areas, he said, are important to national agricultural development efforts. “Specifically, some 3500 acres of predominately rice and cash crops will benefit with other commercial undertakings. There are about 230 rice farmers and about 200 cash crop farmers who will benefit directly and the system will also indirectly benefit 283 rice farmers linked to this network,” Minister Holder further told the gathering.

The minister said that it was also recognised that during periods of heavy rainfall, approximately 1,100 acres in the areas would experience flooding, causing losses to crops and in some cases property. As a result, he said that gravity drainage available in the location is not sufficient to reduce the level of water in a timely manner thereby causing flooding in the Three Friends and close by villages.

“The installation of this pump will effectively reduce flooding, also due to heavy siltation of the outfall channels, the pump will also assist in clearing the outfall channel, the pumps capacity of 24p cubic feet of water per second, will assist in the clearing of sediment that causes blockage of the outfall,” Minister Holder said. The Minister urged those who will be benefiting from the services to ensure that the drains and channels are clear of weeds in an effort to ensure the full use of the new facility.

Region Two Chairman Devanand Ramdatt, who gave brief remarks, said he was happy that the project was completed and farmers would benefit from an improved drainage system. He therefore pledged the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) support towards working in collaboration with NDIA in ensuring that proper drainage and irrigation services are provided to residents in the Pomeroon-Supenaam Region. He also made calls for revetment work to be done in the Three Friends area to complete the project.

Chief Executive Officer of NDIA, Mr. Fredericks Flatts gave an overview of the project and said that previously NDIA was tasked with ensuring that a mobile pump was in the area. He said the cost of the physical infrastructure was $103 million and was contracted to Doodnauth Samaroo Investment. Consultancy for the project was done by C and B Associates at the tune of $13.8 Million Guyana dollars. The pumps, he said, are driven by engines as opposed to electricity.

After the formal part of the programme, the unveiling of the plaque and cutting of the ribbon, the pump was test run on site after which a coconut was burst as a symbolic opening. Also attending the commissioning were General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board, Mr. Nizam Hassan and Corporate Secretary of NDIA Omadatt Chandan along with other staff from the Ministry of Agriculture.