India’s Govt-funded pumps expected within months

Guyana will soon be receiving the 14 mobile and fixed water pumps that are being funded via a US$4 million line of credit (LOC) from the Indian Government.
The LOC agreement was signed back in February 2017 between Finance Minister Winston Jordan and an official from the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of India. The contract was subsequently awarded to India-based Apollo International Limited (AIL) which had submitted a US$3.6 million bid for the project.
During a recent interview with Guyana Times, former Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Venekatachalam Mahalingam explained that the company has already commenced working on acquiring the pieces of drainage and irrigation equipment that will be used to boost flood prevention efforts in Guyana.
“They are already working with their suppliers to manufacture those pumps to Government of Guyana… The timeframe should be, I think, four to six months. It takes time because they have to get it done from somebody but it’s on stream now so nothing will stop them…,” he noted.
According to Mahalingam, who recently ended a five-year tour in Guyana, once the equipment is manufactured, it would just be a matter of weeks to get them to Guyana and installed across the country.
The project falls under the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) and includes the design, supply, installation and commissioning of nine fixed and five mobile high-capacity pumps and associated structures and equipment.
The five mobile pumps will provide drainage services to Georgetown and its environs including La Penitence South, Cummings Canal, Church Street, Sussex Street and South Ruimveldt. These mobile drainage pumps will be assigned to various locations close to existing sluices in the city and their surrounding areas and will also be deployed to other areas to alleviate flooding whenever necessary.
Meanwhile, residents in Hampton Court and Devonshire Castle in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); Den Amstel in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); Hope and Nooten Zuil in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); Mora Point in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), and Rose Hall in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), will benefit from the placement of eight fixed pumps within their communities which will help to restrict flooding there.
In addition to procuring and installing the 14 pumps, the agreement also catered for the provision of associated spares and institutional strengthening related to the use and maintenance of the equipment.
The acquisition of these pumps is expected to reduce the risks of flooding in low-lying areas and will bring relief to residents and farmers whose economic activities are usually disrupted by flooding caused by intensive rainfall and overtopping of the sea defence.
They will provide flood relief to approximately 25,000 acres of agricultural and residential lands.