Design for Mora Point Pump Station near completion

Erection of an irrigation pump station at Mora Point, Mahaicony River in Region Five, together with installation of fixed pumps therein, is moving closer to realisation with completion of the design phase being expected by the middle of this month.

National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) Engineer for Region Five, Mahaica/Berbice, Dharamkumar Seeraj, disclosed that Innovative Engineering Consultants were last April awarded the $16.7 million contract for the design of the pump station and supervision of its erection.
According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the pump at Mora Point will be one of nine new drainage and irrigation pumps being acquired by the Government as part of a Gy$837.4 million (US$4 million) line of credit from the Government of India.
Once completed, the Mora Point pump will deliver water from the Mahaicony River into irrigation channels at a rate of 80 cubic feet per second (cusecs) for utilisation by large rice producing areas within the Mahaicony/Abary Rice Development Scheme (MARDS).
Engineer Seeraj said, “2500 acres of rice cultivation will benefit from guaranteed irrigation when badly needed, such as in El Nino weather conditions.”
Seeraj said NDIA’s acceptance of the consultants’ design will be followed by the awarding of contracts for construction of the pump station and installation of the pumps, during 2019.
The new Mora Point Pump Station will replace the old pump station with its two old pumps previously installed by the colonial Government over 100 years ago.
Seeraj said the century-old pumps, one of which is reportedly still working, will be “spruced up” and kept at their current location as historical artifacts. Their accommodation could become a drainage and irrigation (D&I) heritage site.