CABINET recently offered its ‘no objection’ to the award of a $62.4M contract that will see strengthened sea and river defences in Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara). Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, who made the disclosure at one of his recent news conferences, said it is for the construction of 160 meters of ‘rip rap’ river defence at Blenheim, Leguan.
A Government Information Agency (GINA) release said Government has been making huge investments with the aim of bettering drainage and irrigation (D&I) structures countrywide.
GINA said newly constructed sluices were commissioned by Agriculture Minister, Robert Persaud at Leguan and Wakenaam.
The Waterloo drainage sluice in Leguan is a reinforced concrete structure with a manually operated wooden gate, designed to drain 2,000 acres of farmland, which is half the amount cultivated in Leguan and constructed at a cost of $93.4M.
Apart from the sluice, the revetment leading to the river was built. The sluice will not only benefit the farmers but drain the housing areas that are affected by the backlands water, GINA said.
It said the Noitgedacht sluice, in Wakenaam, was constructed at a cost of $16.37M and it will facilitate drainage of over 1,000 acres of farmland on the island.
That sluice, which has a self-acting door, replaces an old structure at the same location that had been non-functional for a number of years.
Wakenaam, Leguan and Hogg islands are receiving increasing Government attention in terms of upgrading D&I and sea defences, GINA said.
It reported that the Waterloo sluice will be manned by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), in collaboration with the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in Leguan but the Ministry of Agriculture is looking at integrating the system so as to accommodate the drainage of more acreage on that island.
GINA said the ministry has been steadily supporting the drainage maintenance programme in Leguan, as it has been providing the island with the use of an excavator and, in so doing, facilitating the rehabilitation of a number of drains and canals.
GINA reported that the ministry also facilitated an excavator in Wakenaam that has completed 25,000 rods of drainage work.