Designs for mega drainage canals to be completed by February 2024

The designs for major drainage canals in Regions Five and Six are expected to be completed by February 2024, so that infrastructural works can begin on these Hope-like structures.
The Government is pumping a lot of funds into massive projects to enhance the drainage systems in the two regions. Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha made this disclosure during a recent farmers’ meeting.
The National Assembly recently approved the sum of $5.3 billion to the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) for the provision of additional resources to facilitate critical drainage and irrigation works. Of that sum, the Government has allocated $6.4 million to complete the designs for the canals.
“These will be massive structures. These will be canals that will help us when we have excessive rainfall and excessive water in the system, to drain the system without putting pressure on our drainage we now have,” Minister Mustapha stated.
He added that consultants working on the plans have promised to build the canals so that water can be conserved for use in irrigation particularly during extended dry periods.
A few weeks ago, Minister Mustapha noted that the President was briefed on the latest aspects of these structures. The Agriculture Minister emphasised, “We will start the Hope-like canals in various regions, like Regions Five and Six. We are now working to design those canals…Parts of those canals, especially in times like these, will act as a reservoir for us too…So that we can have it to use as some form of irrigation.”
During the recent sitting of the National Assembly, Minister Mustapha highlighted that there are several canals throughout the country that need rehabilitative works to improve D&I throughout the country, including Friendship, Den Amstel, Craig, Plaisance, Profit, Belladrum, New Amsterdam, Manchester, Black Bush Polder, Bonasika, and Mahaicony Creek, among others. These works will be competed at a cost of $2.5 billion.