by Curlan Campbell, NOW Grenada
- Shambo Water Rehabilitation Project to eliminate shortage faced by farmers on Shambo Estate
- Water from Morne Fendue river pumped through High Gate into Shambo Estate
- Project will incorporate an aquaponics system
Government is to introduce a project in Plains, St Patrick that will eliminate the water shortage faced by farmers on the Shambo Estate.
Parliamentary Representative of St Patrick, Pamela Moses said the Shambo Water Rehabilitation Project funded through the Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (J-CCCP) Project will be implemented as part of measures to mitigate against climate change.
This project is among several other projects launched last December which focuses on key areas such as water resources management, sustainable agriculture and community-based climate-smart resilient infrastructure with the aim of decreasing the impacts of climate change.
“The project will provide farmers with water from the river, so we will be pumping water from Morne Fendue river through an area known as High Gate into Shambo Estate. There will be pipes running through the entire estate, so every farmer just has to go to the edge of their land and turn on his or her pipe.”
The project will also incorporate an aquaponics system in its design. “The water that we pump from the river will be stored in ponds and in those ponds, fish will be added and so the waste from the fish will be the fertilizer for the plants, so it will reduce the amount of artificial fertilizer used so, therefore, there will be less CO2 emissions.”
Minister Moses says a number of greenhouses will be erected in the Shambo Estate. “A number of greenhouses will be erected as part of the project and so this will encourage all farmers to practice climate-smart agriculture.”
In light of the coastal erosion taking place at Mt Craven, the St Patrick Representative said government has made the construction of Chinese low-income houses a priority for the affected communities.
“There is the issue of erosion on the beach from the Breakwater project all the way down Mt Craven into Mt Rodney, and so people’s homes are at risk. Government has already spent $4.6 million on the Breakwater project which saved the town of Sauteurs, but in light of this our government made the Chinese housing project a priority for St Patrick.”
The Shambo Water Rehabilitation Project will cost over $300,000.
The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology climate outlook for July to September 2018, states “rainfall totals are forecast to be lower than usual or similar to the usual; a number of short dry spells is expected in the ABC Islands, Greater Antilles, and the Leewards along with fewer wet spells than usual. The latter reduces the potential for flooding and associated hazards somewhat, but a concern for flash flooding remains in any area.”
