The Ministry of Agriculture’s National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), as part of an ongoing programme to mitigate the adverse effects of the recent heavy rainfall, has done additional works in the Mahaica, Mahaicony and Abary areas, as well as at Hope/Dochfour, to assist farmers. Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture, Ali Baksh, along with a team comprising NDIA Chairman Dharamkumar Seeraj, and CEO Lionel Wordsworth, along with other technical personnel, recently checked on some of the works being done.
In the Mahaica, Mahaicony and Abary areas, intensive works were carried out by the NDIA, MMA and the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).
The scope of these works included eight drainage tubes being closed off on the right bank of the Mahaicony, to cut off inflows of rising water, drainage tubes being given to assist Blairmont residents with drainage, excavation works at Mahaicony and Fortitude/Chance road side drain, clearing of blockage at No.9, excavation works at Experiment/Waterloo areas, clearing outfall channels at Bath, cleaning internal drains at Mahaicony/Abary,  heightening dam at Baiboo, building embankment at Branch Road Mahaicony and at Gordon Table, excavation and heightening works at Wash Clothes, and sand bags packed at low sections of No.10 Mahaica.
Additionally, new sluices at Cottage, Mahaicony and Profit, Abary are being built that would significantly enhance drainage in those areas. A new sluice has been constructed at Retrieve, Mahaicony, which would drain over 12,500 acres of rice lands.
In Hope/Dochfour, farmers were assisted with empoldering works at Hope middle walk as part of NDiA’s continuous efforts to bring relief to the area, as the agency had earlier used its excavator to clean the Hope middle walk canal, while a bulldozer was deployed to provide better access for farmers. A number of drainage tubes were installed to facilitate drainage.
The construction of the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) Northern Relief Channel at Hope/Dochfour would significantly enhance drainage in the Mahaica, Mahaicony and East Coast communities. To date, works have commenced on the head regulator, high-level sluice outfall, public road bridge, and 25% of earthen works have been completed.
This project is expected to be completed by 2013. Meanwhile, compensation has been paid to farmers whose lands have been taken up by the construction of this channel.