PRIME Minister Moses Nagamootoo has said that farmers will suffer no more from excessive flooding. He made this prediction when he commissioned the Lima Drainage Pump Station on the Essequibo Coast yesterday.More than 400 farmers will benefit directly from the effect of drainage pumps directly and indirectly draining water from over 11,000 acres of land.

“Efficient use and management of the pumps is important, so that residents would not suffer from excessive (accumulation of) water,” Prime Minister Nagamootoo said at the commissioning ceremony.

He noted that the importance of the project can be seen in that some 20 percent of the country’s economy is dependent on agriculture; and agriculture, particularly rice farming, “is considered the backbone of Essequibo.”

The overall cost for the pump station is Gy$289M, and the project was executed by Samaroo Investments. This is the last of eight pumps to have been commissioned under the Line of Credit from the Indian Government.

Prime Minister Nagamootoo observed that over “sixty percent of rice lands in the region have been cultivated already.” He took the opportunity to again implore rice millers to pay farmers in a timely manner. And speaking directly to the rice farmers present, he urged them to “name and shame” the rice millers who are not fulfilling their obligations “to pay you in a timely manner”.

Prime Minister Nagamootoo also recently commissioned two drainage pumps in Berbice, one at Gangaram and the other at Joppa, Number 43 Village, Corentyne.