Black Bush Polder pump station to be completed by 2nd crop of 2025

During a meeting with farmers and residents from Number 48 Village and other neighbouring communities on the Corentyne Coast on Saturday, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha disclosed that the Black Bush Polder pump station is scheduled to be completed before the end of July 2025.
Minister Mustapha made the disclosure while responding to concerns raised by rice farmers about the supply of irrigation water to cultivation areas in the front lands. He told farmers that a substantial amount of the cultivation area has already been irrigated and that the other lands will be irrigated in the coming days.
“There’s approximately 23,000 acres of land available for rice cultivation in the front lands. Of that amount, 14,000 aces have already been flooded so we have another 9,000 remaining. I’m hoping that before the end of next week the remaining acreage can be flooded out so that irrigation can be supplied to the front lands. Because of the situation in Black Bush; the pump station, I instructed that we have two additional pumps installed. So, we have six pumps working at the moment. In 2021, a contract was awarded to construct a new irrigation pump station for the front lands. The project was supposed to be completed by the end of August 2023. The contractor didn’t finish the project so we terminated the contract. If you go to the area now, you’ll see works are in progress to complete that project. We had to retender that project to another contractor who is now working to complete that project. That pump station is scheduled to become operable by the second crop of 2025. That pump station is being constructed for over $700 million,” Mustapha explained.

The new pump station will be outfitted with four 150 cu/sec pumps with the capacity to pump approximately 252,000 gallons of water per minute; doubling the current irrigation capacity in the cultivation area.
Mustapha told farmers that the Government has been making resources available to ensure the sector develops, adding that through Government’s support and intervention, rice cultivation in Guyana has exceeded 700,000 tonnes for the first time.
“We must recognise the role the Government is playing and the investments being made to develop the sector. For the first time in the history of this country, we’ve produced over 720,000 tonnes of rice and we still have more reaping to do. This year, we cultivated less than what we cultivated in 2021 but we were still able to produce more. We were able to achieve this because of the Government’s interventions. We’ve been rehabilitating dams, cleaning and maintaining canals, and upgrading the D&I infrastructure. For two consecutive years, the Government has been subsidising farmers with fertiliser. We’ve managed to get the paddy bug situation under control. When the issue started, we met with the farmers to develop a plan of action. I also instructed GRDB (Guyana Rice Development Board) to supply the chemicals to the farmers free of cost. Farmers are also having better yields with the new varieties we’ve introduced over the years.”
While responding to concerns about sufficient water supply for cattle in the Black Bush Polder pasture, Minister Mustapha said the water supply system has to be regulated to ensure cash crops, rice and livestock farmers benefit from adequate and timely water supply.
“We have to work together to ensure there is regulation of the water supply. The Government has been expending funds and making resources available to ensure cattle farmers have the facilities needed to improve their herds. So, we have to continue to regulate the water supply but I can assure you, we will ensure you wave water for your cattle,” Mustapha noted.