$1.7b Programmed to Continue Essex Valley Irrigation Infrastructure Development
By: , February 17, 2025
Photo: Donald De La Haye
Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Fayval Williams, tables the 2025/26 Estimates of Expenditure in the House of Representatives on February 13. The Estimates provided details on, among other projects, the Essex Valley Irrigation Infrastructure Development Programme, which aims to assist in Jamaica’s achievement of food security as also modernisation of the agricultural sector. Some $1.7 billion has been allocated to continue work under the programme during the upcoming fiscal year.The Full Story
Work on the Essex Valley Development Programme will be further advanced in fiscal year 2025/26 with the Government’s provision of an additional $1.7 billion.
Details of the allocation are contained in the 2025/26 Estimates of Expenditure which was tabled in the House of Representatives on Thursday (February 13) by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Fayval Williams.
The programme is expected to assist in achieving food security and the agricultural sector’s modernisation by increasing the area under formal irrigation in St Elizabeth by 50 per cent and the yield of crops in Essex Valley to a minimum 90 per cent.
This will be attained through the construction of wells and the development of associated agricultural infrastructure in the arable Essex Valley area.
Work completed under the programme up to December 2024 include the drilling of eight wells, five of which have yielded water; a tariff study for the National Irrigation Commission (NIC); capacity-building for climate resilience and crop modelling; and the construction of agricultural buildings.
Other achievements include the completion of supply and installation of pipelines for the irrigation network system and rehabilitation of roadways, supply and installation of a photovoltaic system, and the construction of four pump houses.
The supply and installation of pumps and pumping equipment is 25 per cent complete.
The anticipated targets for the upcoming fiscal year include completion of the supply and installation of pumps and equipment; development of Essex Valley and Southern Plains Agricultural Development Projects area operational plan; and the continuation of community engagement and support for community-based organisations, including gender mainstreaming and support of vulnerable groups.
The programme, which began in April 2017, is slated for completion by March 2026.
It is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, and co-funded by the Government and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).