Ministry of Agriculture of Guyana

Significant investments to deal with rainy season

Georgetown, GINA, December 04, 2007.

Focus continues to be placed on ensuring that necessary mechanisms are put in place to ensure that the drainage and irrigation system is intact to deal with the current end-of-year rainy season which is expected to continue over an extended period.
            Government has made significant investments in D&I improvement to help the country deal with the effects of climate change, since it has been observed that Guyana is now experiencing shorter intense periods of rainfall. This puts pressure on the D&I system since it was designed tp take off approximately 1.5 inches of rainfall within 24 hours.
            Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud at a press conference at his Ministry today said approximately $660M has been spent to carry out preparatory works in Regions One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and Ten.
These works started shortly after the May/June rainy season and include activities such as clearing of canals and drains, maintenance of various structures and servicing of pumps. Expenditures on these activities in the various regions are Region One - $5M, Region Two - $117M, Region Three-$88M, Region Four – $200M, Region Five- $154M, Region Six – $57M and Region Ten - $35M.
Additionally, $22M is being spent to carry out other preparatory works at the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC).
            These resources are in addition to the annual capital programme through which approximately $1B is spent annually to strengthen the D&I system through which various major projects are ongoing. These include construction of scour protection at the Kofi outlet, East Bank Demerara, and an intake structure at Enmore, along the Conservancy Dam.
Additionally, other projects that will boost D&I include construction of a double-door sluice at Golden Fleece in Region Two which is currently ongoing while a similar structure is more than 90 percent into its work programme at Westbury.
Some of the investments in the country’s drainage and irrigation system are being made to re-activate structures and systems that were closed during the 1970s and 1980s but which are now necessary to help deal with climate change.
Last year, more than $50M was spent to repair and re-commission the Trafalgar pump station which services several West Coast Berbice villages while various canals were re-opened and structures re-activated.
Government’s long-term plans to help Guyana deal with climate change are the completion of the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary Agricultural Development Scheme Phase II through which assistance from the Japanese Government to help with funding is being pursued.
Another initiative is the Conservancy Adaptation Project through which support is being sought from the World Bank through its Special Climate Fund. This project will include various technical surveys and assessment crucial to development of long-term interventions planned for the EDWC.