Parliament’s Committee of Supply yesterday approved the sum of $750 million in supplementary funds for the Ministry of Agriculture to conduct urgent drainage works in six regions.
Approximately $750,156,388 was approved for works including the rehabilitation of drainage channels, access bridges, revetments and dams along with the installation of stainless-steel sluice doors in several regions according to Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha.
“A number of these doors have become vulnerable because the repairs were not done during the time they were supposed to be done,” he said.
Mustapha disclosed that $260 million was for drainage works needed in Region Three, $115 million for works in Region Four, $153 million for Region Five, $121 for Region Six and $89 million for Region Seven. “These works were not budgeted for in the original budget,” he said.
In response to a query by Opposition Member of Parliament Khemraj Ramjattan, Mustapha stated that the awarding of the contracts for those work went through the usual National Procurement and Tender Administration (NPTA) process.
The requested supplementary funding was part of Financial Paper 2 which requested a total of 2.9b under the current and capital estimates. The entire paper was approved.
