Agriculture now “bedrock of our country” – Agri Minister at commissioning of $500M cutter-head dredge

Residents and farmers will now benefit from improved drainage across the country with the procurement of a half-billion-dollar cutter head dredge.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha commissioned the cutter head dredge at Little Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara on Saturday. The dredge, a first of its kind for the Ministry, was procured by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) to the tune of $497,464,600 and will be used to desilt outfall channels and improve drainage systems across the country.
During remarks at the commissioning ceremony, Mustapha said that the new piece of equipment was a testament to the Government’s commitment to delivering quality services through state-of-the-art equipment to residents and farmers across the country.
“This cutter head dredge will not only improve the drainage in the residential area, but it will also contribute tremendously to production in the farming communities… We have hundreds of outfalls around the country and this piece of equipment will help us to clear those outfalls easily… Based on the specifications, we will now take about two weeks to clear an outfall where as it would usually take four weeks or more. Not only will the residential areas benefit, but the farming communities will also benefit. Agriculture is now the bedrock of our country. As a Government, our vision is to develop this sector,” Mustapha explained.
Meanwhile, NDIA Chairman Lionel Wordsworth noted that although the idea of acquiring a cutter head dredge was conceptualised some time back, it was only in 2021 that the Government approved funds for it to be procured.
“In 2021, we got our approved budget to move forward. It later went out for public tendering and through a competitive bidding process, a contract was later awarded. I’m happy to say that the entire design, supervision, fabrication, and putting together of equipment was done by Guyanese engineers and staff. This piece of equipment is the first of its kind for NDIA whereby it’s a self-propelled vessel equipped with the component to do the dredging. This will allow us to be more responsive to address the concerns of dredging outfall channels,” the NDIA Chairman noted.
The dredge is outfitted with a global positioning system (GPS), life-saving and fire-protection equipment, propulsion and steering systems, and operating equipment which includes two excavators, a cutter head and engine, a generator, living quarters for nine operators, etc.

The cutter head was designed to be fitted on a short-reach excavator, which increases the mobility of the equipment, allowing it to have a wider range of operations as well as increased efficiency of the cutter head while excavating material.
The cutter head has a suction bore of 250mm and a discharge pipe of 250mm. Driven by another 400HP Cummins engine, the pump speed can reach up to 900rpm, allowing for a mixture of speed and cutter discharge of 1250m 3 /h at water head of 20m.
Back in May 2021, the NDIA signed a contract with S Jagmohan Hardware Supplies for the supply of the cutter head dredge. At the time, Minister Mustapha said the products that were to be provided were seen as critical.
During Saturday’s commissioning, the Agriculture Minister pointed out that Government is making these huge investments to procure equipment such as this dredge to not only modernise Guyana’s infrastructure but also respond to the needs of people in the country.
“We are responding to needs of our people… If you’re a farmer, we’re hoping to mitigate flooding so that you will ensure that you don’t lose your crop because if you lose your crop, the Government has to find funds to give back to you to go back to the land,” he stated.
To further boost the drainage systems, Government is building nine new pump stations across the country, and contracts were signed on Friday for another four pump stations.
According to Mustapha, there needs to be 24-hour draining since tidal drainage is not effective especially given that Guyana is below sea level.
“We need to improve drainage capacity,” he noted.
One of the contracts signed on Friday was for a new pump station at Craig, East Bank Demara, to the tune of nearly $1 billion.
The Agriculture Minister outlined the importance of effective drainage systems especially for farmlands, given Guyana’s aggressive drive to enhance food production and food security not only locally but in the Caribbean Region as well.
He said that Government is currently working on agriculture insurance for local farmers. Her noted they are currently engaging an insurance company on this matter.