Almost three years after being established Water Users Associations (WUAs) are still awaiting the revamping of the drainage system which would allow them to carry out their duties.
There are nine WUAs at Canals Polder, Vreed-en-Hoop/La Jalousie, Den-Amstel/ Fellowship/Blankenburg, Vergenoegen/ Naamryk, Golden Grove/Victoria, Cane Grove, Black Bush Polder, Lots 52-74 Villages and Crabwood Creek.
At the initial signing to hand over the symbolic operational keys for the first of the WUAs at Vreed-en-Hoop/La Jalousie it was said that government would assist with the clearing of dams and drainage and irrigation canals through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) which the farmers would use their resources to maintain.
Then chairman of the Region Three Regional Democratic Council Esau Dookie had said that the transferral of the secondary drainage system involved total rehabilitation of the D&I system including canals, sluices and intakes in nine pilot areas including Region Six and Region Three. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded project also included institutional capacity building of the WUAs.
The water users’ pilot project agreement falls under the Agriculture Sector Support Programme (ASSP). It was explained then that the idea of transferring management of the secondary drainage system to farmers in a WUA came out of IDB experiments carried out in countries such as India, Turkey and Mexico where farmers were complaining about similar problems with drainage and irrigation.
The ASSP is a US$25 million project which aims to rehabilitate D&I facilities, reform and strengthen the D&I institutional structure, enhance agricultural production and increase incomes in rural areas covered by the project. The ASSP targets nine D&I areas in Regions Three, Four and Six.
The Ministry of Agriculture, in an official statement on the project via e-mail, said the D&I policy of the government from 1994 up to the new Drainage and Irrigation Act of 2004 involved execution of the ASSP.
In the e-document, the ministry outlined that Water Users Associations will finance the operation and maintenance of secondary D&I systems and primary irrigation systems. On the other hand, central government will finance the operations and maintenance of primary drainage and flood control systems.
Meanwhile, the NDIA will gradually transfer to water users the responsibility for financing and operating specific sections of the D&I system in the country.
Deviations
However, the situation on the ground as of today features significant deviations from that initial plan. As reported by officials in leadership capacities at WUAs on the West and the East coasts of Demerara they have simply been maintaining the systems as they were without the stated rehabilitation.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said in a September meeting with WUA members that under the civil works component of the ASSP, drainage and irrigation works will be done in 120,000 acres at Vergenoegen/Bonasika, Den Amstel/Fellowship, Vreed-en-Hoop/La Jalousie and Canals Polder in Region Three; Golden Grove/Victoria and Cane Grove in Region Four; Black Bush Polder, Numbers 52-74 villages and Crabwood Creek in Region Six.
Meanwhile Secretary to the NDIA Deonarine Shivsankar in a recent letter said the board is conducting a public awareness campaign to clear up misconceptions about the WUAs.
Persaud said the WUAs were the precursor for the ASSP. He mentioned that there was nothing like rehabilitation to be carried out before the WUAs took over. The minister explained that they have been given numerous contracts and have taken responsibility from some Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) for secondary and tertiary drainage.
He contended that in several areas primary works were done but added that the activity of the WUAs would form the introduction for major works. He noted that this is so because the WUAs have been collecting a small percentage of rates therefore the NDIA supplemented its funds in many instances amounting to some $100M.
Dindial Singh group promoter for the Vreed-en-Hoop/La Jalousie WUA told Stabroek news recently there was, “a hiccup in the collection of rates and taxes under the authority of the NDIA,” however, “some $5.1M was collected and with the assistance of the NDIA the association has maintained all canals and drains throughout the year.”
Michael Gouveia, chairman of the Golden Grove/Victoria WUA revealed, “We have started collection from this year.” Other WUAs have been collecting rates therefore they would have collected a larger sum Gouviea said. “We are basically doing this on behalf of the NDIA,” since, “handing over fully has not yet happened.”
The concerns over rate collection seem to be justified in the light of how the funds collected are being spent. The situation prompted Project Manager of the ASSP Bernard Carter to say at the meeting last September that tax collection by WUAs is an issue that needs clarification.
For instance Vreed-en-Hoop/La Jalousie WUA Group Promoter Singh said at the time of reaping last year the association hired a bulldozer for preparation of the dam. However, Nazim Abdul a member of that WUA told Stabroek News, “A Hymac [excavator] was sent in and worked for a day and a half and was brought out back,” but, “it damaged the dam.”
Rehabilitation
The issue of rehabilitation is a live one throughout the nine associations. Gouveia informed this newspaper that as far as he was aware infrastructural work would begin soon.
Abdul reiterated that the WUA has been doing a fairly good job though when it started a component to revamp the whole system was earmarked. Abdul said the system was not revamped though it is in the pipeline since an advertisement was issued for the work to be done.
Farmers in the various WUA territories have been doing their own work to clear the dams and canals. Abdul informed Stabroek News that they are currently trying to maintain the system. “We did works on the dam during the last crop though it is not in our mandate but we did it to assist farmers. Last year we collected 40% of the rates charging $2,500/acre just like the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC).” He added that after the system is rehabilitated the tax rates would go down.
“We are trying to maintain the system as we took it over but if you can’t clean because of bush it’s difficult,” he said. Gouveia concurred with Abdul telling this newspaper that they have been assisting with cleaning drainage infrastructure over the last three and a half years. And their work seems to have been making an impact there as Gouveia declared, “I can recall about three to five years ago the drainage now being maintained… you could have walked across on stuff. Now the farmers are benefiting as they can access the land by dam where they can pull their carts.”
Another West Coast Demerara farmer offered the observation that the WUA is working okay, “but the system is very slow from the time it started out. The trenches are being cleaned but there is a need for machines to clean the dams.” He explained that the WUA handles parts of the D&I work but holds the opinion that they are wasting time in some instances. “There is no use cleaning the trench while the conservancy remains blocked,” he posited adding, “You got to start from the head.”
The government through the ministry has spent several million dollars financing WUAs according to their size in hectares its e-mail stated. The Black Bush Polder WUA located in Berbice received the largest amount of funds because that association controls the largest spread of land 10,345 acres. The WUA with the smallest amount of land – Den Amstel/Fellowship – received some US$292,804 initially.
All of the associations were established between February and October 2004 and have set up offices which are manned by professional personnel except in Den Amstel/Fellowship and Golden Grove/Victoria.
Information from the ministry indicates further that the WUAs have entered agreements with the NDIA to execute maintenance contracts as well as a delegation agreement to collect rates and taxes.
Seven of the nine WUAs produce rice either exclusively or along with other crops. Four of the nine associations cultivate crops simultaneously, for instance half of the land in Vergenoegen/Bonasika and Crabwood Creek is used for other crops while the other half is used for rice. The other three groups produce rice exclusively. Canals Polder and Golden Grove/Victoria WUAs invest strictly in other crops.