Minister defends Govt’s $2.1B D&I investment

Government has expended .1 billion in the first half of the year on the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of drainage and irrigation (D&I) systems and structures, but despite these efforts, there still continues to be massive amounts of flooding, both in coastal and interior regions.
However, Agriculture Minister Noel Holder told Guyana Times on Monday that the monies expended are being properly utilised, as the Government has managed to erect more pumps along the coastal region to assist with the country’s overall flood risk management system.

Holder said this continues to be a top priority for Government in order to maintain a resilient agriculture sector which would be able to withstand the effects of climate change. He said this move is also in keeping with Guyana’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals to combat climate change.
In addition to these initiatives, US$4 million was committed for the procurement and installation of fixed and mobile pumps. The procurement of nine fixed pumps, to be placed in the coastal regions, and five mobile pumps, to be deployed within Georgetown, will commence in the second half of this year.
The Minister said this will in a large way assist with reducing floods in the country’s capital city, while pointing out that Guyana’s coastal plain some six feet below sea level. “This issue will not end overnight. It is something that we are working on and it’s a long-term plan. We hope to address this,” he added.
Holder said in an effort to improve the management of D&I systems, Government has completed mapping 10 per cent of the D&I systems maintained by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority. This will help to guide the process of responding more efficiently and promptly to cases of flooding.
While persistent flooding has taken place in the interior, with the most recent case occurring in Region Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo), the Minister has not taken blame for it. Holder maintained that the recent flooding in the interior was caused by the continued “backing up” of the rivers bordering Guyana and Brazil.
He pointed to that fact that close to 80 per cent of Guyana’s population is living along the low-lying coastal region. And sea level rise linked to global warming is dramatically increasing the likelihood that homes, businesses, hospitals, and schools along coastal areas of Guyana will flood.
Guyana’s coastal plains are home to some three quarters of the country’s economic activities, including almost all the country’s agricultural production; critical for both food and export, Holder reminded. But sea level rise could devastate agricultural production if saltwater inundates fields.
It has long been argued that without improved sea and river defences and drainage systems, the coastal plains could face serious flooding, if not complete inundation owing to higher sea levels under worst case scenarios. Such flooding would devastate most of the population and have other consequences.
Two of the 17 contracts to construct and rehabilitate sea and river defence infrastructures in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) have already been completed in the first half of this year, with the remainder slated to be undertaken in the second half. Additional sea defence initiatives are slated for completion in the second half of the year, to protect its citizens, environment, economy, and infrastructure according to the Finance Ministry Mid-Year 2017 Report.