Construction on a $200M pump station at Greenfield and other drainage works at Bee Hive are almost complete, Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture Alli Baksh said after an inspection exercise on Saturday.
The Government Infor-mation Agency (GINA) said Baksh and CEO of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) Lionel Wordsworth inspected ongoing works, including the pump station being built at Greenfield. Bee Hive and Greenfield are prone to flooding during heavy rainfall. “I am pleased to note that the CEO has taken the initiative with support from government to undertake such
a project in a crucial area, which will add to the existing system available for drainage on the East Coast… Government will be spending more than $200M to construct this new drainage pump station,” the minister said.
The pump station is part of the wider adaptation plan of resuscitating old sluices and building new ones along the East Coast, particularly at Mahaica and Mahaicony.
The objective is to construct a more reliable and efficient drainage system and to enhance the entire drainage discharge at Greenfield and Bee Hive.
“…The pumping stations, which consist of two mechanically driven diesel powered engines, will see the objective being accomplished.
Left to be completed are the installation of the engine, the dredging of the inlet channel and the construction of a perimeter fence,” Wordsworth said.
The CEO also said he was pleased that the drainage structure is being built at such a vulnerable area. “I have been out here and seen the problems and challenges faced in the area…there is a sluice here on the south side of the facility which additionally drains this area but, there are still challenges in terms of keeping the outfall channel clear… we currently have a pontoon and two excavators stationed there because very often we have to clear it because of very fluid sling mud deposits in the channel, which pose problems of proper drain-age,” he said. Wordsworth also noted that the pumps were designed to discharge into the outfall channel to clear them.
