Former Region Six Councillor Gobin Harbhajan says Water Users Associations (WUAs) which were set up to manage the secondary drainage and irrigation systems in their villages are duplicating functions of other bodies and should be dissolved.
“What they do is to the call the Regional Chairman or the CEO [Chief Executive Officer] of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) when farmers encounter difficulties and need attention”, Harbhajan lamented
WUAs came into being in 2004 with funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) but according to Harbhajan they have outlived their usefulness.
Prior to the establishment of WUAs, Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) were responsible for the secondary drainage and irrigation systems and the maintenance of dams in cultivation areas. However, this no longer falls under the NDCs where WUAs exist.
“Many of these land owners would have paid their land taxes to the respective NDCs and to the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission. This points to a duplication of services offered by the WUAs since the NDCs, the RDCs (Regional Democratic Councils) and the NDIA would have been giving subsidies to these associations. It is a fact they have been doing the same work in the areas where these associations exist”, he said.
With 22 villages, the 52-74 NDC was once considered the best run in the country. Now, Harbhajan says that the cultivation area is poorly run and there is no accountability as the NDC no longer has responsibility for the cultivation area.
Questioning the rationale behind the WUAs, Harbhajan says the NDC, the WUAs, the RDC and NDIA all have overlapping responsibilities. This, he noted, results in bad management.
NDCs, he says are democratic bodies whereas the WUAs are run by farmers. Under the format which the WUAs were implemented, each village should have two representatives. However, that is not the case with the three bodies in Region Six, he said.Further, since WUAs are not gazetted government agencies they are able to avoid being audited.
Harbhajan, who was former Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo’s representative in Region Six, is calling for an audit of all nine WUAs in Guyana.
Those are Charity–Zorg-en-Vlygt, Victoria-Golden Grove, Den Amstel–Friendship, Crabwood Creek, Vergenoegen-Bonasika, Canals Polder, Cane Grove, Black Bush Polder and Vreed-en-Hoop-La Jalousie.
“I am asking the Minister to close down the Water Users Associations and hand them back to the NDCs. I think the system of Water Users Association is good but it should not (conflict) with government agencies,” he told this newspaper.
He noted that under the current system, on many occasions farmers are forced to repair damaged dams with their own resources while the farmers who were contracted by the WUA to repair those dams submit bills and are paid.
“The Water User Association does not have the legitimate power and do not collect enough finances to manage the system.”
He argued that with revenues from oil, Guyana will be in a better position to fund NDCs.
Liability
“Water User Associations have become a liability to the government. Under the NDC system more persons from the community were employed. Under the NDC system rangers are employed and each had a responsibility for between two and five dams. “As with the 52-74 NDC, prior to the establishment of the WUA, farmers who damaged the dams were forced to fix them. Back then, tractors that drove in the dams when it rained were impounded and if rice farmers left gates opened and animals went in and damaged other farmers’ crop, the errant farmer was made to pay”, Harbhajan added.
He noted that the NDIA actually manages the entire system since it has to provide fuel, watchmen for the pumps and maintain dams and canals while the WUAs give contracts to farmers to repair some of those very dams.
“The NDC has a good structure. The Water Users Associations only benefit a small number of farmers and the current system allows for huge overlaps.”
WUAs, he argues, undertake the same projects and have the same description and responsibilities as that of the RDCs and NDCs.“Because of the undemocratic nature of Water Users Associations many farmers are denied water when the need it. The same applies when they need to have the water level dropped”, he charged.
The WUA also has to get permission from the NDIA before they can turn on the pumps under their control, Harbhajan also pointed out.
“The Region is also technically equipped with the qualified persons to run the system,” the former Regional Councillor added.
On June 23, 2004, the IDB announced the approval of a US$22.5 million concessional loan to Guyana to improve the competitiveness of agriculture through investments in infrastructure, training, research and diversification.
Farmers’ training and extension services were to be strengthened under the programne and support was to be provided for the establishment of Water User Associations, “which will empower farmers to better manage secondary drainage and irrigations systems, maintain canals and control costs”.
