Georgetown: Catering especially to the needs of farmers in the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary (MMA) area, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) is gearing to improve drainage of some 35,000 acres of land. This according to the NDIA will allow for less reliance on drainage through the Creeks since there would be direct drainage to the Atlantic.
In March of last year the NDIA commissioned a $166M sluice and outfall channel at Retrieve, Mahaicony. Situated parallel to the Mahaicony River, the drainage outfit is intended to provide increased relief to farmers and residents on the right bank of the Mahaicony River during rainy periods. This is according to the Drainage Authority in an attempt to detail its efforts to bring relief to farmers, a move which will see approximately 10,000 acres, including farmlands benefiting from the improved drainage.
In addition, construction of a $104M sluice at Cottage, Mahaicony, is presently being undertaken with 95 percent already completed. The sluice, the NDIA said, is intended to drain excess water from the backlands of the Mahaicony during rainy periods. Another sluice valued at $133,429 is being constructed at Profitt, Abary, which would drain some 37,524 acres of rice lands in Abary after construction is completed.
In addition the NDIA revealed that efforts are continually being made to further develop the Drainage and Irrigation System so as to reduce and eliminate potential problems. As such it has embarked on the building of an additional outlet to the Atlantic, that is, the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) Northern Relief at Hope/Dochfour, East Coast Demerara, which would allow for less reliance on the Lama and Maduni sluices that lead into the Creeks. This project, which is expected to be completed by May 2013, has the potential to eliminate releasing of water from the Maduni and Lama into the MMA area.
Meanwhile, the NDIA said it has commenced a second phase of works geared at improving and enhancing the drainage and irrigation systems in the MMA areas. Previously, in the first phase, over 500 farmers had benefitted and the second phase will now provide support to additional farmers with 16 hours of excavation works and over 90 High-density polyethylene (HDPE) tubes to improve the drainage and irrigation systems in farming areas. “These works are already in progress and are presently being undertaken on the right bank of the Mahaicony Creek. Works undertaken include excavation works, empoldering works as well as the clearing of internal drains on their farmlands,” according to the NDIA.
At the moment too it was revealed that the NDIA is constructing an internal flood embankment to prevent overtopping of the Mahaicony River during periods of heavy and prolonged rainfall. The embankment as a result would be approximately 2,500 rods long from Mora Point to First Savannah and works are currently underway. In preparation for the rainy season, the NDIA said that it undertook the spraying of the Mahaica and Mahaicony Creeks to eradicate weeds to facilitate the free flow of water, a move which included the clearing of the mouths of the Mahaicony and Abary Creeks using the NDIA’s pontoon and excavators.
