THE Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) intends to stand firm in its resolve to repossess and reallocate, as a last resort, State lands for which outstanding drainage and irrigation (D&I) charges are due.

The Chairman, Mr. Rudolph Gajraj said, in a recent review, that the repossession is in 2010 plans, now that it has completed about 98 per cent refurbishment of the secondary drainage and irrigation (D&I) system.

He said: “We used the dry weather to compete rehabilitation of the entire system of secondary drainage and irrigation within the Abary/Berbice block. All the drains have been refurbished and just a few irrigation channels are left.”

Gajraj said maintaining the drains, irrigation channels and access dams in the Abary/Berbice project alone costs $93M annually and that sum, added to what is required for the Mahaica/Mahaicony and Mahaicony/Abary areas amounts to about $164M for the same period.

“The whole thing about the scheme now is the maintenance. We want people to pay for the maintenance of the secondary D&I system, so that we do not have to resort to repossession and reallocation of State lands. Once the people pay their rates, 2010 should be a good year, in terms of the quality of services we offer,” he said.

Gajraj said, last year, there was still a large number of people who had not paid their D&I charges for maintenance in the scheme.

He said that quite a few, who have not paid, have been renting or sub-letting plots at high prices while the money they have to pay for D&I services is little, compared to the what they receive for rent.

Gajraj disclosed that, in addition to refurbishing the secondary D&I system in Abary/Berbice, MMA/ADA constructed a great deal of D&I infrastructure in the Mahaica/Mahaicony, a new area of its responsibility.

He said, in that area, there is much more land under infrastructure, designed to support agricultural production and there will be increased activity there, due to the work done last year.

Projections
Among the projections for 2010, Gajraj said, is the commencement of an extension of the MMA/ADA main irrigation canal in the Abary/Berbice area, a major project.

That canal is the main channel from the MMA Conservancy for irrigation to rice cultivation plots within the MMA Abary/Berbice block and runs aback of the villages in West Berbice, parallel to the sea coast, 24 miles long and an average 60 feet wide.

Starting from the upper reaches of the Abary, it ends aback of Belladrum and is to be extended four miles to Profitt, also at West Coast Berbice.

Gajraj said the extension will provide irrigation for an additional 1,500 acres of cultivable land but, more importantly, also enables the canal to serve as a drain for lands lying between itself and the Abary River running parallel to the South of it, in times of flooding.

Those lands, which are, generally, referred to as South of the main canal, are prone to flooding and rice farmers with cultivations there have lost crops on several occasions, the most recent being the floods of late 2008 and early 2009.

The losers had been granted waivers of their D&I charges for 2009 because of their losses and the extended main canal is to be so designed that its water can flow into the Abary, near to its mouth, to drain lands South of the main canal, if and when necessary.

The embankment created will also serve as flood control for the lands in that area, Gajraj stated.

He said work has already started on that project and is expected to be completed this year.