ESSEQUIBO – Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, today, said that farmers will suffer no more from excessive flooding as he commissioned the Lima Drainage Pump Station on the Essequibo Coast.
Over 400 farmers will benefit directly from drainage pump which will drain water from over 11,000 acres of land directly and indirectly.
“Efficient use and management of the pumps is important, so that residents would not suffer from excessive water,” Prime Minister Nagamootoo said while speaking at the commissioning ceremony.
Prime Minister Nagamootoo noted the importance of the project since some 20 percent of the country’s economy is dependent on agriculture and that agriculture, particularly rice farming “is considered the back bone of Essequibo.”
The overall cost for the pump station is GY$289M and the project was executed by Samaroo Investments. It is the last of eight pumps commissioned under the Line of Credit from the Indian government.
Prime Minister Nagamootoo observed that over “sixty percent of rice lands in the region has been cultivated foralready”. He took the opportunity to once again implore rice millers to pay farmers in a timely manner. Speaking directly to the rice farmers present, he urged them to “name and shame” the rice millers that are not fulfilling obligations to pay in a timely manner.
Prime Minister Nagamootoo also recently commissioned two drainage pumps in Berbice, one at Gangaram and the other at Joppa Number 43 Village.
