On Saturday, the rehabilitation and completion of the pumping stations in Clarapolder and Nieuw Nickerie was accomplished. Both pumping stations’ rehabilitation cost the state SRD 3 million, and the work was completed without incident. At the completion, President Chan Santokhi and Minister of Public Works (OW) Riad Nurmohamed were present.
The district’s economic growth should be aided by the delivery of the repaired canals. According to the Communication Service Suriname, the renovation of the pumping station in Clara Polder will facilitate the irrigation of about 4,000 hectares of rice fields in the western polders, and the renovation of Nieuw Nickerie will speed up the drainage of 320 hectares of land.
Meheswar Badal head of OW district Nickerie said that this is a positive development for the district. In a few weeks we will be in the long dry season, and then the pumping stations will be very important. This will supply the farmers with needed water for irrigation for their rice fields. He also reports that one of the pumps had malfunctioned and that the building it was in was on the verge of collapse.
President Santokhi indicated in his speech that in Nickerie, as a district of high agricultural production, good water management is of great importance. This for food production and ultimately the economy. “We are a government of creating economic stability and employment”.
Nurmohamed, has indicated that the dewatering works will be tackled nationally in collaboration with the Ministries of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries and Regional Development and Sport. In Nickerie, work was carried out on the dewatering works in the city center as well as the renovation of locks and the unclogging of pipes. Work is now underway to rehabilitate the mega dewatering works for irrigation and drainage. The work is being carried out with the help of the Inter-American Development Bank. “There is a backlog of years to be made up for, but I believe that the problems are being tackled in a sustainable way,” says the minister.
