Officials spoke glowingly today about the prospects for a Guyana that is no longer plagued by flash floods and inefficient drainage. This look to the future was brought into focus by the existence of the country’s first drainage and irrigation strategy.
In the Ministry of Agriculture’s boardroom, Minister Zulfikar Mustapha oversaw what he termed a “soft launch” of the National Drainage and Irrigation Strategy (NDIS) 2030.
The document, was lauded as a coordinated national approach to modernizing Guyana’s drainage and irrigation systems.
Words like resilient and prosperous were repeated by almost every speaker on the programme as they spoke of need for such a strategy in the age when the effects of climate change are seen daily.
Minister Mustapha, in his keynote address, said that traditional approaches to drainage and irrigation management can no longer be depended upon. Therefore, new and holistic strategies must be devised and implemented.
The Minister further outlined a number of ongoing and planned interventions, including the rehabilitation or reconstruction of 93 sluices across the country, the construction of high-level canals in Regions Three, Five, and Six, and the procurement of 63 additional pumps that will be strategically deployed in vulnerable areas. He added that the government has also invested in additional machinery and equipment to strengthen emergency response capabilities and improve the management of flooding and other climate-related events.
Mustapha said that the strategy will be officially launched in one of the communities around Guyana that stands to benefit the most from its implementation.
