THE government is pushing for construction of the long-awaited Phase 11 of the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary water control project which has been allowed to lie dormant for the past 20-odd years.
A massive Phase 11 of the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary/ Agriculture Development Authority (MMA/ADA) Scheme envisages damming of the Mahaicony River by extending the existing Abary River conservancy dam between the Abary and Berbice rivers westwards up to the watershed between the Mahaicony and Mahaica rivers.The dam will serve to create a new conservancy which will provide flood control for coastal lands between the two rivers and provide irrigation, thereby opening up an additional 200,000 acres of land for agricultural development.
MMA/ADA General Manager Mr Aubrey Charles disclosed Wednesday last that on the urging of the Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder, the MMA/ADA had last week completed a preliminary project document for the MMA Phase 11 works for funding.
In addition to the extension of the Abary River Conservancy dam and the consequent damming of the Mahaicony River 30 miles inland, the project also envisages construction of a main irrigation canal from the conservancy to feed secondary canals which will irrigate the lands on either side of the watershed between the two rivers.
When Charles disclosed the push for Phase 11 by the government through the MMA/ADA, the disclosure was greeted with loud applause by the large crowd of farmers and their families who attended the authority’s Open Day observances to celebrate Agriculture Month 2015.
“That would be a very, very good development for Region 5 (Mahaica/Berbice),” one enthused farmer said.
Charles said the preliminary project document is to be handed over to the Minister of Agriculture for action.
He said that due to the cost, government will have to seek international funding to make Phase 11 of the project a reality.

AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

The MMA water-control project was conceived for facilitating the complete agricultural development of over 450,000 acres of land lying between the Mahaica and Berbice rivers on the north-east coast of Guyana.
The idea was and still is, to provide water control for the coastal areas up to a distance of some 30 miles inland by impounding the floodwaters in large conservancies located in the upper reaches of the rivers.
Additionally, construction of appropriate civil engineering infrastructure provided drainage and irrigation (D&I) services to the areas nearer to the coast.
This Phase had been started in 1978 and was completed in 1985.
Its completion facilitated flood control and irrigation for some 50,000 acres of land between the Berbice and Abary rivers.
These lands have since then been used to facilitate rice production and open-range livestock rearing, making Region 5 the largest cattle-farming region in Guyana.
Overall through the Phase 1 alone, the MMA/ADA scheme was also responsible for over 80 per cent of the paddy harvested nationally for the second crop 2015, maintaining its status of being the largest rice- producing region in the country.
The MMA/ADA Phase 11 project, once activated, will bridge a 30-odd year hiatus between the completion of Phase 1 of the project funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and executed under the administration of the then Burnham government.
The MMA/ADA project envisages a Phase III, which will involve the damming of the Mahaica River by extension of the Phase II dam further westward, with similar benefits for even greater levels of agricultural production within Region 5.
Charles said that he is certain that Phase 111 will be put under the spotlight after the completion of phase 11.
Charles announced the recruitment of two young civil engineers who returned from training in Cuba a few months ago, as well as three locally trained survey technicians.
He said that the increase in staff at that technical level will serve the MMA/ADA well, once funding and the greenlight for the ambitious Phase II project is received.