On Friday, the Ministry of Agriculture through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) signed contracts with over fifty-two (52) Community Development Councils (CDC) for critical drainage and irrigation work in several communities in Linden (Region 10).
The contracts, which were mostly for manual cleaning of drainage channels in several communities, were signed to the value of $112,282,975.
While addressing the gathering, Agriculture Minister, Hon. Zulfikar Mustapha explained the contracts being signed were executed in two phases representing a total investment of over $224 million for 2024. He also said over 530 persons will be directly involved in the works.
“If you look at the number of persons that will be engaged; it will be way more than 530 persons. A CDC is made up of approximately 10 executives and we know that those will not be the only persons involved because community members will also be involved in these works. We are empowering you to maintain your communities. That is the philosophy of this government. That’s why you continue to see massive development and transformation in every sector in our country today. We are transforming Region Ten to become a major contributor to agricultural development,” Minister Mustapha explained.
A section of the gathering (Photo: Ministry of Agriculture/ December 20, 2024)
Ameilas Ward Phase 3 CDC, 1st Ville (Buckville) CDC, Burnham Drive CDC, Dalawalla CDC, Retrive CDC, and 58 Miles CDC were among the groups who signed contracts for drainage and irrigation works in their respective areas.
Minister Mustapha also disclosed that since the government took office in August 2020, approximately $1.5 billion was expended to in the region for a number of critical projects in the agriculture sector.
“Over the last four years, we’ve successfully executed approximately forty-four massive projects in Region Ten at a cost of over $1.5 billion. So, when people want to speak about discrimination and say that funds are not being made available to develop the region, let them give you the facts because the fact is that this region has seen its share of development and under this government, Region Ten will continue to see development in all the sectors. This is the first time in our country’s history that we are seeing this level of development. Development that is fast-paced and sustainable,” he explained.
Some of the works include the rehabilitation of 34 kilometers of access road at Ebini/Kimbia to support the corn and soya bean project, the construction of agro-processing facilities, cleaning and desilting of drains in Silvertown, Wismar, and Retrive in Linden. A number of scheduled and emergency works were also done to clear critical drainage and irrigation channels in West Watooka, Cacatara Creek, Silvertown, and Wismar.
Minister Mustapha also handed over a mini excavator to the region valued at approximately $13 million to assist with cleaning and desilting drainage channels in communities across the region. This was in keeping with a commitment made by Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo during his last visit to the region (Ministry of Agriculture press release)
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