The Ministry of Agriculture says an irrigation canal dug at Johanna South as part of a $600M rehabilitation programme for the Black Bush Polder Scheme will aid the free flow of the drainage system.

According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), Minister Robert Persaud and CEO at the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority Lionel Wordsworth inspected the works during a visit to the area on Wednesday. Wordsworth said government has been building and rehabilitating numerous drainage and irrigation structures across the country to ensure that farmlands have the necessary conditions for cultivation. “The new irrigation canal will benefit approximately 3000 farmers and foster improved drainage to hundreds of acres of land,” he said. GINA noted 58 miles of the canal has been completed. In addition, the ministry currently has seven excavators and one bulldozer working in the area as it is doing a drainage study from east Black Bush Polder to determine where to build a new drainage canal, drainage sluice and bridge. These efforts are expected to facilitate drainage in Yakusari and Johanna, during the rainy season.