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Works commence on G$328M asphalt road for MMA Scheme
The Onverwagt Road Project is underway.
Kaieteur News – Rehabilitation works on the Onverwagt main access road in the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary Agriculture Development Authority (MMA-ADA) Scheme has commenced. In a statement, the Ministry of Agriculture announced that the works commenced on Friday and that a total of five kilometres of the dam will be upgraded to an all-weather road. Once completed, the road will cater to over 12,000 acres of farmland and further heighten production in the scheme.
The contract, which was awarded to Romell Jagroop General Construction Services, is being executed at a sum of G$328M. The project is expected to be completed before the end of August 2021.
Back in January of this year, the Ministry of Agriculture hosted a sod-turning exercise to signify the commencement of the project.
Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, said that his Ministry was moving aggressively with resuscitating the sector, adding that government “means business” when it comes to Guyana realizing its full agricultural potential.
“In January, we held a sod turning exercise for this project. Since then, the contractor has been carrying out a series of tests and preliminary works. Since taking office, persons in the area had expressed their dissatisfaction with the condition of the road and appealed to government for some amount of relief. We know for a fact that the road is in a deplorable state and is impassable, especially during the rainy season. As a result of this, huge acreages of cultivated lands are being inaccessible and this has affected the production of the farmers in the Scheme. If, as a government, we are looking to double agriculture production by 2025, then we have to ensure farmers face the necessary infrastructure to access their lands. The government is very much invested in agriculture development in Guyana and will continue to invest heavily in infrastructure and other agents of agricultural development, not only in the MMA Scheme, but all across the country,” Minister Mustapha said.
The subject Minister also said that farmers can expect greater improvements in the infrastructure with the passage of the 2021 National Budget.
“As you know, we are currently in the process of debating the 2021 National Budget. I presented a $22.6B Budget proposal for the Ministry of Agriculture last Wednesday. $12B of that will go towards infrastructural development such as the construction and maintenance of drainage and irrigation structures and farm to market access roads. These works will be executed in all the agriculture producing regions of the country. With the renewed interest, which we are seeing in the sector because of the interventions of Budget 2020, farmers can look forward to more projects, and an overall proactive approach to dealing with issues of the sector. I believe, that with Budget 2021, agriculture and the economy as a whole, will take off,” Minister Mustapha added.
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