A new pump station, which will service farmlands stretching from Abary to Blairmont on the East Bank of Berbice (EBB) in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), was on Saturday commissioned by Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha.
The pump station will provide assistance to rice, cash crop, and livestock farmers. It will also provide irrigation for lands under sugarcane cultivation.
While the sluice at Trafalgar was built with the capacity to have four pumps, that capacity was never fully utilised.
In 2010, the then Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) Administration commissioned two 150 cubic feet per second pumps. However, the sluice needed to be rehabilitated.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha
This $191 million project constituted the resuscitation of the sluice; the installation of a 200 cubic feet per second pumps; a new pump house, and a generator to ensure that the pump has its own source of power.
Chairman of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Lionel Wordsworth, pointed out that the investment will benefit farmers from Abary, right through to Blairmont.
“It involves a new pump unit, a new electric motor, new electric panels, a discharge point and also the procurement of a new 700 KVA generator that is on site. So we have independent power generation to run all four of the electrical pumps…,” he said at the commissioning.
Also speaking at Saturday’s commissioning ceremony, Region Five Chairman, Vickchan Ramphal, noted that the pumps are located in the part of the region where the most rice is being planted.
Region Five is the largest rice producing region in the country.
President Dr Irfaan Ali had referred to the region as being the livestock capital of CARICOM.
Dr Dwight Waldron, Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA)
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) Dr Dwight Waldron, in noting that Region Five has the largest numbers of both small and large ruminants, pointed out that there has been massive investments for livestock farmers in that region.
These include a state-of-the-art abattoir, which is soon to be commissioned, a number of pasture projects and a milk plant, among others.
Waldron noted that the region produces beef as a prised commodity, and considering the number of calf mortalities due to excessive flooding, this makes the pump station a necessary service.
The newly commissioned pump station in Region Five
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha explained that the pump at Trafalgar symbolises government’s commitment to farmers and communities that rely heavily on a well functioning drainage and irrigation system.
“In this area for the first time we will be cultivating 100,000 acres of rice; that would be a record breaking cultivation. Leaving out livestock which Dr Waldron spoke about, we have cash crop production. There is also a large area in this region that comprises cane cultivation; so you can see how important Region Five is to the country’s development and providing food security not only for Region Five, not only for the country but the region,” Minister Mustapha highlighted.
