THE Ministry of Agriculture, through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), has officially opened bids for the construction of pump stations in the communities of Meten-Meer-Zorg, Bell Vue, and Pouderoyen in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), as well as Jimbo Grove on the East Bank of Demerara.

Moreover, the Bell Vue and Pouderoyen communities on the West Bank Demerara will also benefit from sluices.
The engineer has estimated that the pump station at Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara, will be $918,231,387; $945,179,772 for the Pouderoyen Area, West Bank Demerara and $865,182,752 for Jimbo, Grove on the East Bank Demerara.

Bids for the projects are to be submitted no later than June 13, 2023 at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office.

Bidding will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) Procedures specified in the Procurement Act 2003.
Additionally, according to the Invitation for Bids (IFB), bidding documents can be uplifted from the NDIA for a non-refundable fee of $3,000.

Pumps serve as a means to remove excess water from the land, and they are particularly important during the rainy seasons when there are heavy downpours.

Earlier this year, the National Assembly approved a $6 billion budgetary provision for irrigation and drainage. The allocation of $4.3 billion, according to Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, is a rollover amount that will enable the ongoing installation of 12 pumps.

The Ministry of Agriculture is aiming to set up eight new drainage pumps this year, all around the nation.

The minister had said: “We have here, maintenance of drainage and irrigation projects across the country… we would have purchased a number of pumps and we are now doing a number of sluices to complement those pumps.”

He added, “Last year, we started the construction of 12 pumps. $4.3 billion is allocated to these projects, because these projects are roll-over projects. This year, we will build another eight additional pumps… for the first time in history we will build pump stations on the East Bank of Demerara. We never had pump stations there before.”

Mustapha had also mentioned that the NDIA will be constructing farm-to-market roads and performing embankment work in a number of areas.

“We had thousands of acres of land in the Pomeroon that we will be empoldering so that we can resolve the issue of flooding… we will do farm-to-market roads in a number of areas, places like Victoria, Buxton, Letter Kenny Onderneeming, to name a few areas.”
Furthermore, $104 million will be given for construction of a new dam and mangrove restoration projects in Region 5, both of which are intended to provide flood relief for the communities.