Residents of Buxton and Friendship will soon benefit from a Gy$82-million-dollar sluice which is expected to drastically improve the drainage and irrigation system in the East Coast Demerara community as well as boost its agricultural output. The new sluice is being built at the outlet of the existing pump basin in Buxton, and is the second phase in the rehabilitation of the drainage and irrigation system in Buxton/Friendship.
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud shakes hands with the contractor of the project after the signing of the contract for the construction of the $82 million sluice
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud expressed hope that, with the new sluice, agricultural production in the two communities would be improved. “We need to recognize that it is not only about the construction of this sluice, but it is also taking decisions, continuing our programme of restoring the agriculture glory of this community that it once had.” In a simple ceremony on site at the pump basin, Persaud also pointed out that the project is part of the fulfilment of a promise made to the community during a visit by the president last year.
The Agriculture Ministry, along with the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), has placed significant emphasis on the clearing of drains in the backlands of these two communities.
“But now we have to focus on the discharge at the front, because we had some limitations,” Persaud said.
The second phase of the rehabilitation project totals Gy$82 million, Persaud pointed out. On the first phase of the project, government spent some Gy$120 million. “This investment that we are making here in your community is just part of a wider package of investments,” Persaud told the residents gathered at the simple signing ceremony. The minister pointed out that similar drainage works have been done along the coast. “We want the community to have the ability, to have the resources whereby the young people … would want to stay here, would want to develop, would have all the opportunities so that they can live productive lives,” Persaud told the gathering.
Meanwhile, according to the CEO of the NDIA, the sluices at the Buxton/Friendship area are unlike any other in the country.
“The discharge of the existing infrastructure is one that I have not seen anywhere along the coast, whereby it basically has two doors on the inlet side in the basin itself, with a plume going deep beyond the seawall and onto the foreshore.”
Because of this, Wordsworth pointed out, it becomes “very, very difficult” for officials to manage and keep the sluice clear, especially during the times of heavy rainfall. The new sluice that will be constructed would be reinforced concrete that is 14 feet wide with a 16-foot gate. “It would be tied in back into the seawall, and also we will construct a length of training wall onto the foreshore,” Wordsworth noted. The new sluice will allow the NDIA to effectively desilt the outfalls.
The project also complements the number of infrastructural improvements that were done in the drainage system of Buxton and Friendship, Wordsworth added.
The new sluice is a much welcome fixture, one resident, Leroy Hamer, said. Hamer, a farmer, believes that the drainage system in the community will be improved “101 per cent more” after the sluice has be constructed. But Hamer noted that the sluice must be able to give “value for money”.
“I think maintenance is very important. Of all these works that the government does do, regardless of how much money the government spend, if these systems don’t maintain, it would be just like you don’t spend anything,” Hamer said.
