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This was disclosed by Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy during a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle at his Regent Road, Georgetown office.
The eight fixed pumps, together with six mobile pumps, are being acquired through a US$4M line of credit and are expected to provide a significant boost to the local drainage system.
The minister had advised since May this year that the six mobile pumps were already in Guyana. However, he confirmed more recently that these have been deployed to various locations.
As it relates to the eight fixed pumps, Ramsammy said that two of them are here in their entirety and have each been installed at Rose Hall and Canje in Berbice, where pump stations were already constructed for them.
FARMLAND ABACK OF ROSE HALL
He noted that because of the pump that was installed at Rose Hall, some 500 acres of land at the back of Rose Hall Town is now being cleared to be used as farmland. In addition, he said that the pump located at Canje is being operated as part of the Albion sugarcane cultivation.
The minister pointed out that while these two pumps are a part of the Indian pump project, they are also part of a European Union (EU) arrangement, which stipulated that they should be installed within a specific time.
Meanwhile, as it relates to the six fixed pumps that are yet to be installed, the minister said that these are still in India and are awaiting the construction of pump stations to house them.
“Most of the parts for the pumps are in Guyana, but not all of the pumps are here. That’s because we are waiting shipment of the pumps, we have not given the go ahead, this has nothing to do with the manufacturer, it has to do with us because we are building pump stations to accommodate these pumps and we don’t want the pumps to just sit in the open,” he explained.
PUMP STATIONS
Ramsammy indicated that in addition to the pump stations at Rose Hall and Canje, stations are also being constructed at Patentia and Canal Number One in Region 3 (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands), Enterprise in Region 4 (Demerara/Mahaica), Pine Ground, Mahaicony in Region 5 (Mahaica/Berbice) and Crabwood Creek and Bengal in Region 6 (East Berbice/Corentyne).
He stated that these pump stations are in various stages of construction, and time is being given for them to be completed before the authorisation to ship the remaining pumps.
In a previous interview, Ramsammy had stated that the eight fixed-side drainage pumps have been tested in India and have performed to capacity. Chief Executive Officer of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Lionel Wordsworth had confirmed earlier that Surendra Engineering was awarded the drainage pumps contract through competitive bidding.
