The Ministry of Agriculture is commissioning a $57M pontoon earmarked for drainage and irrigation works in Region Two today.
The pontoon was built by Courtney Benn Contracting Services, a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said. Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy visited Courtney Benn’s Water Street location on Monday to inspect the vessel prior to it being put into the Demerara River.
“As you know one of the main things that affect us is the flow of water out of our main drains through the sluices into the Atlantic Ocean because of silt…while we are looking at other alternative to conquer this problem the only solution thus far has been using the excavator on pontoons to de-silt those channels,” Ramsammy said.
Currently the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority currently has only two pontoons in the system which are relocated as needed.
This is costly and as such government took the decision to invest in an additional vessel. The two units currently in stock are mostly used in regions three and four because of the amount of works done there.
“Region 2 is badly in need of one of those units and that is why we have decided to send this one out there…even before I became Minister of Agriculture I have been advocating for Region 2 to get a pontoon of this magnitude,” Ramsammy said.
The pontoon will be used to dredge outfall channels affected by siltation.
The ministry also plans to seek more funding for another pontoon. The first unit was acquired in 2008 at a cost of $40M and the second was procured for $50 million.
