Construction of massive drainage canals to start soon

The construction of extensive drainage canals in Regions Five and Six is scheduled to commence within two weeks, according to the Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha.

“Now, before or by the end of February 2024 we will also see a number of megastructures being built across the canal in the two regions,” the minister said.

He added that other support structures will also be built to aid in the overall construction of the canals and to assist residents in the meantime and these include pump stations and sluices.

“So, that structure that we have at Hope there, we will have a number of those in the other two regions. Approximately three in Region Six and five in Region Five. So, that will be built across the region and I am hoping that it will help us tremendously in alleviating flooding across the regions,” Minister Mustapha stressed.

Just last December the agriculture minister noted that designs for the two canals are also expected to be completed in February of this year.

Some $6.4 million was allocated for the designs from the $5.3 billion that the National Assembly recently approved for works to be done under the National Drainage and Irrigation Programme.