Floyd Green launches $80M Hartlands irrigation works in St. Catherine

Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Minister Hon. Floyd Green has formally started construction of the Hartlands Irrigation Project, an $80-million scheme in St. Catherine meant to improve water supply and help local growers cope with a changing climate.

The mini-pressurised network will serve 41 Hartlands farmers from the outset. Officials also intend, over time, to bring more than 400 acres of farmland under the system.

At Tuesday’s (July 21) launch and sign-unveiling, Minister Green said the investment answers growing pressure from climate change and rainfall that can no longer be counted on.

“What we now recognise is that there was a time that you could easily wait on rain to fall and that would be enough for you to have your agricultural enterprise. The reality now is that is way too risky and no business can really operate like that. For you to have a viable business, you have to have some predictability. You have to have some sustainability,” Minister Green maintained.

He added that because farmers cannot command the weather, irrigation is essential if they are to “run a robust agricultural enterprise”.

According to the Minister, the National Irrigation Commission is delivering the works on former sugar estate land in partnership with Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings (SCJH) Limited. Completion is projected within three months.

“The good news is that the work has already started. We’ve already procured pipes and the teams are already out, and we do expect that this will be completed and I will return to turn on the water in another three months, maximum,” the Minister said.

He also framed the scheme as lasting support for Hartlands cultivators who once lacked secure land and often had to abandon plots and move. Through SCJH, the Government has granted formal leases during that relocation, and a number of farmers have already signed.

“One of the things that we set about to do was to ensure that in the relocation process that the farmers would get leases for their land that would give them security of tenure that they know when they sign those leases then they are here to stay,” the Minister said.

With water expected soon, he pressed growers to prepare their fields so they can use the system, noting that “Christmas is around the corner”. He further called on them to put the acreage to work and raise output in support of national food security.

SCJH Managing Director Nigel Myrie said the agency is glad to take part. SCJH oversees roughly 15,200 acres in St. Catherine, of which some 6,000 acres — including Hartlands — rely on outdated or inadequate irrigation.

Mr. Myrie said the Hartlands project is the first among several efforts that SCJH and the NIC, backed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, will pursue to “incrementally and systematically modernize and expand the irrigation network across the agricultural production zone here in St. Catherine”.