Georgetown: As the rainy season approaches, the Agriculture Ministry has been ramping up its preparations to ensure the drainage and irrigation system (D&I) is ready for the heavy rainfall expected.
Over the past week, four additional pump stations were operationalised, in Regions Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); Four (Demerara-Mahaica); Five (Mahaica-Berbice); and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
In a release, the Ministry said the availability of these additional stations represents a significant expansion of the drainage system and adds critical capacity to the system as Guyana continues to adapt to changing weather patterns.
The new pump stations are at Paradise, East Coast Demerara (Region Four); Pine Ground, Mahaicony (Region Five); Canal Number One Polder, West Bank Demerara (Region Three); and Vrede-en-Vriendschap, Canje (Region Six). These collectively add 720 cubic feet per second (cuft/sec) drainage capacity to the system.
Earlier this year, Rose Hall Town, Number 19 Village, Patentia, and Three Friends Pump Stations with a combined capacity of 390 cuft/sec were commissioned. Before the end of the year, Windsor Forest Pump Station with a 200 cuft/sec capacity will be added to that list. The Mibikuri irrigation pump capacity was also expanded by about 200 cuft/sec this year.
The significant additions so far this year are consistent with the policy of the Government to aggressively improve the drainage and irrigation system in Guyana, as part of the programme to transform and sustain agriculture, a pillar of Guyana’s economy.
“One of the priorities of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government was to rebuild, expand and improve the drainage and irrigation system which between the 1970s and 1980s suffered significant contraction and deterioration. During that period, several important pump stations were closed and others reduced in capacity,” the release noted.
Most of the closed stations have been restored and others are being expanded, the Ministry said. In addition, stations at new locations are being established. All of the new pump stations operationalised in the last week are new locations which now have permanent pumping capacity for the first time.
The new pump stations, three of which resulted from an EXIM Bank of India loan (with pumps provided by Surendra Engineering Corporation, enable the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) of the Ministry to meet its mandate to rehabilitate, maintain and expand the D&I system countrywide.
As part of the NDIA portfolio of infrastructural development projects, construction of drainage structures, particularly pump stations, is a high priority to ensure drainage coefficients can be increased to accommodate high intensity rainfall over short durations as an adaptive measure in response to the effects of climate change.
The drainage pumps at Paradise, Vrede-en-Vriendschap, and Canal Number One Polder are built to operate in any tidal conditions since they discharge directly onto the foreshore and into creeks. With the addition of the pump stations, the NDIA has paved the way for an immediate increase of its pumping capacity by 720 cu ft/sec, which is equivalent to in excess of 18 million gallons of water per hour. This improved drainage service will benefit approximately 16,000 acres of mostly agricultural land.
Record capacity
This year alone, pumped drainage capacity for Guyana has increased by more than 1100 cuft/sec. This represents the largest increase in Guyana’s pumped drainage capacity in any single year.
According to the NDIA, the increase in capacity means that the country can now pump an additional 30 million gallons of water per hour. In the first quarter of 2015, the Authority is expected to further increase its capacity for drainage by almost the same amount.
It should be noted that while pumped drainage is undertaken in areas where there are very high foreshore conditions or there is a small window to effect gravity drainage among other evaluated boundary conditions, the Authority is currently constructing drainage sluices at Profit, Bagotville and La Grange.
The NDIA made clear that while the additional pumping capacity could not prevent the increased accumulation of water on lands when there is intense rainfall, it would significantly increase the Authority’s ability to effectively drain water in a more efficient and timely manner.
Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy pointed out that Government has always seen agriculture as central to Guyana’s economy and way of life, and will continue to make necessary investments to ensure that the livelihoods of its people are
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