FARMERS and residents from Little Diamond and the surrounding East Bank Demerara villages will benefit from the newly commissioned Cutter Head Dredge. The dredge, which is among the first to be fully manufactured and assembled in Guyana, was built by contractors of S. Jagmohan and Hardware Supplies.

It was procured by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) on contract valuing, G$497,464,600. Although the concept for the project was developed some time back, it was only in 2021 that government funds were approved, while it was completed in May of this year. At the time of its signing, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha said the cutter head dredge was among a list of products and services that were categorised as critical.

The dredge will be used to desilt outfall channels and improve drainage and irrigation in the Little Diamond, East Bank Demerara area, and Guyana at large. At the commissioning ceremony on Saturday, Minister Mustapha emphasised the importance of the dredge and the impact it will have.

“Today’s commissioning of this piece of equipment is testimony to the government’s commitment in modernising our infrastructure,” the Agriculture Minister said.

He explained that the dredge will not only help but improve production in the Little Diamond area, as he stated, “This will change not only thee residential areas but contribute tremendously to increased production in the farming community. Today, farming is seen as the bedrock of Guyana’s economy, although we are now an oil and gas-producing country…We are also seeing that the agriculture sector in Guyana is taking us by storm.”

The state-of-the-art dredge is equipped with a global positioning system (GPS), life-saving and fire-protection equipment, propulsion and steering systems. Its operating equipment includes two excavators, a cutter head and engine, a generator, and living quarters for nine operators among several other amenities.

Also speaking on behalf of the NDIA was its chairman, Lionel Wordsworth who referred to the dredge as one of the most important assets that will be added to agency’s inventory.
“We have had this deficit in this capacity to timely dredge our channel,” he said, adding: “This piece of equipment is the first of its kind that we will have in NDIA, whereby it is a self-propelled vessel, and it is epipod with the component to do the dredging.”