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“Idle” Surendra pumps will be installed by next month – NDIA says
The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) expects to complete the installation of a pump at Paradise, East Coast Demerara by next month.
The revelation came in the aftermath of the publication of an article in the Sunday edition of this newspaper under the caption “Surendra pumps lying idle while rain pounds coastland”.
Two of the recently acquired Surendra pumps, lying outside the Strathspey workshop.
But the revelation is hardly any comfort for residents along the volatile coastal plains, especially with the rainy season already beginning to intensify.
This newspaper had observed four of the pumps, three of which were lying alongside the roadway at Strathspey, outside the workshop of the contractor who is responsible for their installation at various locations along the Coast.
Last Sunday’s Kaieteur News article highlighted that the pumps had been lying idle, awaiting the completion of their respective stations, although the government had ordered them close to two years ago.
However, the NDIA in a statement issued yesterday chose to refer to the one pump which is slated to be installed at Paradise, although it is clear that the others are earmarked for Berbice, Canal Number Two Polder, and another unknown location.
“The pump identified in the Kaieteur News item is slated to be installed in Paradise where a Pump Station is being completed. The pump was removed from its storage site and being taken to the installation site. We are hopeful that Kaieteur News did not mean to convey any other impression other than this fact. We anticipate that the pump installation will be completed by July 2014,” the NDIA statement said.
According to the NDIA, the Government of Guyana received financing to the sum of US$4M under the India Line of Credit to acquire the pumps.
Eight of the pumps are fixed units that are expected to be deployed to pump stations that are currently being constructed while the other six units are mobile units to be deployed on an as needed basis.
The new pumps are intended for rapid deployment at various locations along the coast, and are designed to allow for installation around existing sluices or across earthen dams without the need for well-built foundations or sumps.
They will allow for an increased drainage capacity in many vulnerable coastal areas.
Water from the recent rains has inundated Enmore North lands for the past week as a result of the non-functioning pump in the community.
The NDIA said that it has a programme of works for the deployment, construction and rehabilitation of pumps, sluices and other structures that is in keeping with the overall goals of the NDIA’s portfolio for drainage and irrigation infrastructure development projects.
“Under this programme, a number of contracts have been tendered and awarded, including those for the construction of the eight pump stations for the fixed pumps which are in varying stages of completion as alluded to in Sunday’s article.
“The drive to improve drainage capacity in many areas where gravity drainage is insufficient is part of the National Drainage & Irrigation Authority’s mandate to ensure that Guyana is prepared for the effects of climate change and all that it heralds; whether it be rising sea levels, increasingly chaotic and unpredictable weather patterns, or just increased precipitation,” the NDIA stated.
Meanwhile the NDIA did not address the concerns raised by residents of Enmore North who highlighted the non-functioning pump at their location, a situation that is already causing water to remain on their land for extended periods.
The pump in question has been down since late February and the current rains have left the community inundated.
This newspaper understands that complaints to the contractor who is responsible for its repair have fallen on deaf ears.
The contractor is the same person who was given the contract for the installation of the recently acquired Surendra pumps.
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