-Minister Persaud tells residents
GOVERNMENT continues to invest huge sums to ensure further improvement in the country’s drainage and irrigation systems towards reducing the effects of flooding and to boost agriculture production.
As part of its efforts in updating citizens on steps being taken to mitigate the effects of La Nina, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud on Friday visited Linden where he updated residents, on current plans, and their role in preparing for its eventualities.

The meeting which also saw the input of the Chief Executive Officer of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Lionel Wordsworth; Regional Chairman, Mortimer Mingo and, Community Enhancement Programme, Project Coordinator Visham Budhoo also addressed general concerns advanced by residents.
Minister Persaud pointed out that the region has not had a proper drainage system, and that given the changes currently ongoing, it has become very important that this be rectified given the importance of agriculture in the area.
Region 10 has been known for its large scale production in bauxite and timber but due to the decline for the mineral, the Administration saw the need for an alternative as such it created the avenue for the diversification of the agriculture sector in Linden.

“We are not taking a very narrow approach in terms of the development and the economic opportunities in this region but, we are also looking at ways in which we can support and from the central government work very closely with the region,” he said.
While responding to a question posed as to the reason for heavily investing in drainage in the region, Minister Persaud said that the development plan for Linden is multi-faceted and as such, Government’s obligation is to satisfy the need of residents.
The Regional Democratic Council (RDC) currently is responsible for the region.
“We recognised the limitations of the region and that is why we came in and extended ourselves into this area to support and to ensure rapid development and we did that consciously. It is not that we didn’t have work to do…but we did it because the people of Linden deserve our attention and we will continue to do so,” he posited.
To further complement the ongoing modernisation of the agriculture sector, government has been focusing on implementing measures that will see recovery in both the short and long-term.
The NDIA has embarked on a rigorous cleaning, dredging and excavating exercise as part of its preparations for the La Nina phenomenon.
Region Ten has 425 community enhancement workers, the largest number in any part of the country where there is an active community enhancement programme.
This, the Agriculture Minister said is to further intensify development and to strengthen the country’s drainage capacity, since Region Ten’s topography is different from the other regions.
This year, Government will be investing $180M in drainage alone for Region 10 to address some of the pressing issues and to boost agricultural production. This will be further complemented with an additional $500M for the rehabilitation and construction of vital roads.
Minister Persaud said that $25M will be spent for community enhancement workers to embark on emergency work, to support the NDIA.
“With the type of erosion taking place due to climate change which is one of the defining issues today, persons will have to relocate to other areas, since some areas might be unsafe to live,” he added.
Minister Persaud also encouraged residents to monitor works ongoing, since they are the immediate beneficiaries and to ask questions, since it is taxpayers’ money that is being spent.
A call was then made for contractors to deliver quality work since residents have been complaining of sub-standard work.