Five mobile pumps for city under India loan
Five mobile pumps will be coming for Georgetown under a US$4m deal with India and regions 2, 3, 5 and 6 will also benefit. A Ministry of Finance press release on Wednesday said the Credit Line Agreement will allow Guyana to benefit from the procurement and installation of eight fixed high- capacity and five mobile drainage and irrigation pumps, associated spares and institutional strengthening related to the use and maintenance of the equipment.
The loan agreement was signed on Wednesday between the Government of Guyana and the ExportImport Bank of India in Washington, D.C.
The release said that the five mobile pumps will provide drainage to Georgetown and its environs including La Penitence South, Cummings Canal, Church Street, Sussex Street and South Ruimveldt.
The mobile drainage pumps will be assigned to various locations close to existing sluices in the city and its surrounding areas and will also be deployed to other areas to alleviate flooding, whenever necessary.
The government’s move to boost drainage in Georgetown comes after serious flash flooding over the last year which has left citizens and shop owners in the central business district calling for solutions. The city remains heavily dependent on tidal drainage via kokers leading to the Demerara River but when heavy rains coincide with the high tides it causes hours of flooding and significant damage.
The press release added that residents in Hampton Court and Devonshire Castle in Region 2, Den Amstel in Region 3, Hope and Nooten Zuil in Region 4, Mora Point in Region 5 and Rose Hall in Region 6 will also benefit from the placement of eight fixed pumps within their com- munities which will help to ease flooding in their communities.
The release said that the acquisition of the pumps is expected to reduce the risks of flooding in low-lying areas and will bring relief to residents and farmers whose economic activities are usually disrupted by flooding due to intense rainfall and overtopping by the sea.
It will provide flood relief to approximately 25,000 acres of agricultural and residential lands, the release added.
Signing on behalf of Guyana was Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan while Sailesh Prasad, Resident Representative signed on behalf of the Export- Import Bank of India.
The pumps deal follows another one from India for US$4m which was signed in July 2010 with the then PPP/ C administration. That agreement ended up in major controversy as long delays were reported and there were doubts about whether all six mobile and eight fixed pumps were supplied. There were also concerns that key components were not supplied.
The supplier under this credit agreement was Surendra Engineering and Construction Limited which the PPP/C government later dismissed from the Specialty Hospital contract and sued.