Cabinet approves $29M for access dams in Regions 2, 3, 5 & 6

A number of access dams across several regions are to benefit from more than $29 million in emergency rehabilitation works which are due to commence soon.

A release from the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) stated that following a decision taken by cabinet on Thursday, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) will soon receive in excess of $29 million to commence rehabilitation works on several access dams in Regions Two, Three, Five and Six.

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha noted that the works are urgently needed as some 91,580 acres of rice fields are currently “under threat” due to inaccessible dams.

“Farmers have been complaining about the current state of these dams. Due to the severity of the last rainy season, the NDIA and the various Regional Administrations were unable to carry out much needed repairs and maintenance to over 227,000 rods of access dams. Farmers will suffer millions in losses if we do not carry out these works immediately for them to be able to harvest their rice for the upcoming autumn crop,” Mustapha was quoted as saying.

According to the release, the funds will also facilitate repair to an additional 101,942 rods of dams that were damaged due to continuous use by farmers in their efforts to save their crops and recover expenses from what could be harvested.

Rice remains one of Guyana’s largest export earners, grossing over US$222 million in 2019. And with fields yielding an average of 40 bags per acre, farmers are expected to harvest over 3,663,000 bags of paddy with an estimated value of $10.2 billion.

Government is currently in the process of preparing for a four-month budget that will allow the MoA to carry out additional emergency works to a number of drainage and irrigation structures and access dams across the country, the release added.