Drainage and irrigation (D&I) works will begin in two weeks in Mahaicony, Region Five, providing farmers and residents in Perth, Strath Campbell, and surrounding areas with the opportunity to expand their agricultural output.
Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha made the disclosure during a community meeting at Mahaicony Branch Road, on Friday.
This undertaking will also provide rice farmers with an adequate supply of water for their rice fields.
“We recognised the importance of agriculture…This area, Perth and Strath Campbell, we have to develop some of the canals and rehabilitate some of the canals…I will ask NDIA to have a machine to work in this area to start to desilt the most important canals. The [farmer] who raised concerns about water for his rice field. Those will be the first priorities for us. And then, we will do a programme,” the agriculture minister explained.
The ministry and the farmers will work to create a programme that will include a list of all the canals that need to be desilted.
“We will work out a programme for this area…We will do all the canals but it cannot be done at the same time,” he noted.
The government consistently spearheads community meetings across the country where residents at the grassroots level, can voice their issues.
“We are working with every single section of the population…So, when farmers are saying that they need help, we will continue to give help. We have been giving help over the last four years. As a government, we are responsive to the needs of the farmers and stakeholders in this country,” he affirmed.
Also, a committee will be established in the area for additional canals to be desilted which will be undertaken in phases.
Free planting materials, technical assistance and agrochemicals will be provided to cash crop farmers to increase food production.
Farmers will soon have better access to their farmlands when transporting their produce, following a contract recently awarded for the extension of Mahaicony Branch Road from Green Mill.
A total of 25 schools are currently being rehabilitated across the region providing a conducive environment for teachers and students alike.
Regional Chairperson Vickchand Ramphal, Chairman of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) Lionel Wordsworth and technical officers were also present at the meeting.
