Dear Editor,
In a statement made by the Minister of Agriculture (MoA) recently, he said that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) and Neighbourhood Demo-cratic Councils (NDC) have been tasked to improve the irrigation system in farming communities in light of the relatively dry conditions experienced over the last few months.
A few days ago I visited the farming communities of Dochfour and Hope on the East Coast of Demerara to see the probable alignment for the proposed Hope Relief Canal Project as well as irrigation of the cultivated paddy fields and mixed farmlands as I travelled southwards along the Star Apple Dam from the Public Road to the Crown Dam.
The farmlands in these communities obtain irrigation through a regulator on the East Demerara Water Conservancy Dam (EDWC) and the water is conveyed via a ‘water track’ passing through a swamp lying between the EDWC Dam and the Crown Dam. The embankments on this water track have been breached at several locations, allowing irrigation water when the regulator is open to spill over vast areas of the swamp. On the north embankment of this water track, outlets provide irrigation for Victoria and Cove & John Villages. Further along, the water track merges with the Hope Water Track, which continuously flow northwards to irrigate farmlands in the Hope/ Dochfour areas.
Several breaches on the water track south embankment were noticeable, and irrigation water instead of flowing at a high elevation to the various farms it was intended to serve to enhance cultivation, was finding its way through these breaches into the swamps/lowlands located between the Crown and Conservancy Dams. Because of this natural irrigation diversion, water in the Hope Water Track cannot rise to a level which will allow gravity flow to the rice fields and other farmlands it was intended to serve.
The breaches on the embankments of the water track appear to have existed for some time now, and no attempt has been made to seal them to provide adequate irrigation to farmlands in this area.
Hence the rice and mixed crop farmers have no alternative but to resort to pumping to irrigate their fields – an expensive exercise which they can ill afford. With no seeming help from MoA/NDIA/NDC, they just hope and pray that the relatively dry conditions do not persist too long to stress their crops and thus affect yields.
The Minister of Agriculture disclosed that $2B had been budgeted in 2009 for a yet-to-be finalized Hope Canal Project. The whirlwind spins and rhetoric emanating from the MOA/NDIA/NDC that much is being done to improve drainage and irrigation (D&I) in farming communities along coastal Guyana do not correspond to the facts, since existing facilities are allowed to fall into disrepair, services are curtailed and priority is given to pet projects with high visibility. Further, lack of discipline and accountability in managing and operating D&I systems efficiently are destroying the credibility of the MoA/NDIA/NDC, as recent thefts at the Buxton pumping station and elsewhere have amply demonstrated.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Sohan
