RESIDENTS of the West Ruimveldt Georgetown community will finally get relief from years of constant flooding as drainage and irrigation works begin next week.

This was revealed by the Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, as he conducted a walkabout in the area on Monday.

During this community engagement, Mustapha had officials from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) who were at the time assessing the issues in the area to come up with solutions.

He said, “The first thing we will do is look at a drainage plan because we understand a lot of flooding is taking place in this area.”

He added that the team, comprised of technical officials, were making notes, and as such, in the coming week, work will commence in the area following the development of the drainage plan.

The agriculture minister stated that the entire drainage and irrigation system in the community will be assessed to arrive at suitable solutions to bring relief to those residents.

“We have the technical team here who are looking at the drains and the canals, and before the end of next week, we will start some work,” he said.

To this end, he noted that residents in the area would be engaged when this commences, will be used to carry out the manual labour necessary, and will be compensated for the work. However, wherever it is required to have the mechanical job done, the NDIA team will bring in the necessary equipment and carry out those works.

Earlier this year, Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, disclosed during the presentation of the National Budget that some $19.7 billion had been allocated to upgrade drainage and irrigation networks across the country.

He noted that since entering office, the government has resumed giving the sector the attention it deserves and will continue focusing on its restoration and enhancement.