SOME 150,000 residents of the East Coast Demerara villages of Friendship-Vigilance are set to benefit from a newly commissioned G$240M drainage pump station intended to provide flood relief and increased agriculture activity.

At the ceremony on Friday, Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder said that with Guyana’s low-lying coastal region coupled with the growing threats of climate change, flood risk management should be everybody’s business.

Recalling Guyana’s past experience with the devastation floods of 2015 and 2017, Minister Holder said it was because of this that the government, through its agencies, installed a number of pumps, pump stations, sluices, kokers and canals to mitigate the effects.
These works are a part of the US$11M Flood Risk Management Project (2014-2019) implemented by the ministry’s Agriculture Sector Development Unit (ASDU) to reduce the vulnerability of the coastal area to catastrophic flooding.

It stems from the Conservancy Adaptation Project (CAP), which was developed after the country’s intense flooding in 2005, and is funded by the World Bank.
In his feature address, Minister Holder acknowledged that farmers are often greatly affected by flooding, which is why the new infrastructure also aims to increase crop harvest by minimising loss.

To further achieve this, he called on community members to work collectively to keep waterways free of solid waste and other forms of blockages.
“Today, farmers and residents can be assured that the fear of flooding would now be minimal; I urge you to ensure that your drains and canals are kept free of weeds to realise the full benefit of this increased pumping capacity,” he said.
The station has a capacity to pump 31,700.6 gallons of water per minute off the land and into the sea.

The minister also revealed that through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), another pump station is being constructed in the community of Buxton which will be equipped with two pumps to discharge water at an even faster rate.
Making remarks, too, was Buxton-Foulis Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Chairman, Forbes Abrams, who also called for residents to make agricultural advancements while taking care of their environment.

He told the gathering that the pump station comes at an opportune time when the community was at its wits end with the reoccurring flooding situation.
“[The project] has come at a time when we’ve all become tired of the constant loss of crops, the dislocation from our dwellings, the discomfort from having to trek through several feet of water and the fear of diseases associated with flood conditions,” he said, adding:

“We know for a fact that these communities have been victims of neglect for several decades. I am hopeful that this pump, and the ongoing drainage works that are taking place in the backlands will finally rid us of the perpetual problem of flooding.”
Abrams announced that 180 acres of land will soon be cleared in the community’s backlands and as such youths present were urged to get on board and “restore agriculture to the prominence it once held”.

Speaking to the local habit of the careless dumping of garbage, he advised attending residents by stating:

“We need to desist from making our canals a dumping ground for dead animals, and for whatever we need to discard from our homes, our yards and our factories.
“We also need to recognise that we, too, have a role to play in keeping these canals clean and clear of weeds and bushes so that they can be a free flow of water to the pumps and to the sea.”

Also present at the ceremony were Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NDIA, Frederick Flatts; Finance Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Hector Butts; and Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Region Four Chairperson, Genevieve Allen.

As recent as last month, the Lusignan community received a G$360M pump station, while the G$412M Hope-Enmore pump station is soon to be commissioned followed by the G$400M East Demerara water conservancy.