The Ministry of Agriculture will be expending the sum of $14M in a collaborative arrangement with the University of Guyana and the McGill University of Canada to upgrade the skills of local water management engineers within the context of climate change.

Presiding over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in the boardroom of the Ministry Thursday, Minister Robert Persaud said that the Ministry had seen the need for upgrading staff skills also because of expanded agricultural cultivation and the consequent need for greater and more effective drainage and irrigation systems.

“The expansion in agricultural production has led and will continue to lead to greater responsibility and greater demands on our human resources. We want to prepare for this evolving situation; we want to ensure that our personnel have the abilities to execute their tasks in a way that can stand rigorous scrutiny,” he said.

He disclosed that the training was intended to be an in-service post graduate programme to be held locally and lasting for three months.

Those targeted are engineers attached to four agencies within the Ministry of Agriculture namely: the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary/Agriculture Development Authority (MMA/ADA), the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the Hydromet Department.

The programme will comprise advanced training in hydrology and water resources management, drainage and irrigation, hydraulic structures and geotechnical investigations, and will be held during evening hours with resource persons being mainly lecturers from the McGill University of Canada who will be brought to Guyana to conduct the training as part of the MOU.

The programme at the signing of the MOU was chaired by Mr. Frederick Flatts, Senior Civil Engineer in the Agricultural Sector Development Unit, and included remarks by Mr. Sherwood Lowe, Dean of the Faculty of Technology of U.G., and D. Carrington, Vice Chancellor of U.G.

Those present included Dr Dindial Permaul, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and other Senior Staffers; other U.G. representatives; Dr Marilyn Cox, Director of Planning and Mobilization at U.G., and Mr. Maxwell Jackson Head of the Civil Engineering Department of U.G.

Mr. Lowe said that U.G recognized that water resource management was a very important area for the survival of Guyana.

He referred to Guyana as a living laboratory for the study of water resource management and its application to agricultural productivity, human health and well-being, alternative energy and economic growth.
The training is expected to begin in April.