THE government’s recent efforts through the Ministry of Agriculture’s National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) to improve the drainage situation throughout the country are very commendable. As I visited some friends and family on the East Coast of Demerara, it was quite evident the gargantuan amount of works that were carried out and has continued. I could remember waking up one morning and hearing some rustling outside my house only to be confronted with some community drainage and irrigation workers clearing and cleaning some drains.
Gone are the days when it rained, one had to be afraid of a flood. Even though we are a developing country with limited resources we have managed to at least improve our drainage infrastructure so that our citizens could live better lives. I could remember walking through flooded streets during the 2004/2005 floods but now that is a distant memory.
Guyana’s economic situation in my view has improved due to these timely interventions. More persons are interested in farming and the “Grow More” initiative is now on the ball. Some of my colleague farmers themselves have expressed their gratitude to the government for putting proper drainage and irrigation systems in place. Farming is now a lucrative trade in Guyana and is expanding daily.
A point to note is that even though the drainage systems were designed to only take off 1.5 inches of rainfall over a 24 hour period, the system was able to withstand the rainfall levels over the last few days. This is in my opinion due to the stringent monitoring and management of these systems. I am sure that many would have heard about extensive work done on the crown dam of the conservancy on the East Coast.
I was also fortunate to attend a meeting in Nabaclis one afternoon to hear that farmers wanted to go back to the lands to do agriculture. I was also able to learn about the Agriculture Sector Development Unit and the extensive drainage works it had done in the Golden Grove, Nabaclis and Victoria areas. I even took a drive one afternoon to Victoria backdam only to find a group of farmers clearing some plots of land. Indeed I was enthused by what I saw because the area under proposed cultivation was not used in years because the drainage systems had improved. The time for criticism is now gone and the time for action is now. Let’s jump on the bandwagon and assist in ensuring that our waterways are clear of garbage and other obstacles. Let’s stay off the drainage reserves as works may be impeded as well.