Farmers and residents of New Friendship-Vigilance on the East Coast of Demerara will now benefit from a new $240M drainage pump station which was commissioned on Friday.
According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), addressing the gathering at the ceremony, Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder said “the Ministry of Agriculture, remains committed to flood risk management for the economic, and social well-being of the Guyanese people and gives its assurance that it will continue to implement aggressive plans and civil works to undertake investments, maintenance and future planning in drainage and irrigation.”
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Buxton-Foulis Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), Forbes Abrams said the installation and commissioning of the new facility allied with works aback of the village represent a new beginning for the communities following decades of neglect.
“I am hopeful that when all the works are completed that we will realise in this area, a significant expansion in our agricultural output, whether in crops or livestock. I am absolutely optimistic that time will come when we will have grown to the extent that we will need to establish cold storage facilities and warehouses for our abundant production,” Abrams said, according to DPI.
The NDC chairman urged residents to take ownership of the facility and be guardians of the canals leading to them. “We need to desist from making our canals the dumping grounds for dead animals and whatever we need to discard from our homes, our yards and our factories. We also need to recognise that we too have a role to play in keeping these canals clean and clear of weeds and bushes so that there can be a free flow of water to the pumps and to the sea.”
The pump is equipped with a 70.6 cusec pump which has the capacity to discharge water at a rate of 31,700 gallons per minute.
