Hama-Sana
The General Authority for the Management and Development of the Forest in Hama Governorate, with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has started the rehabilitation work of the southern part of the Mhardeh irrigation network within the Tar Al-Ula Al-Asharnah area as a result of the cracks in it and the damage it sustained as a result of terrorism.
The Director of Irrigation at the Al-Ghab Development Authority, Eng. Hassan Mahfoud, stressed in a statement to SANA reporter the importance of this project in rehabilitating and maintaining 28 thousand square meters of canals, irrigation networks, ferries and metal protection fences based on them, in the Mhardeh area all the way to Salhab city, noting that the area of agricultural lands benefited Of this project, more than 2,093 hectares belong to about 2,000 farmers and investors. Associations for irrigation water investors have also been formed so that they can be trained by FAO to make the best use of the canals and maintain their safety and equipment for the longest possible period of time.
Engineer Muhammad Al-Hussein, director of one of the private companies undertaking the project implementation works, explained that the work is focused on maintaining and rehabilitating concrete channels with an area of 28 square meters, in addition to isolating and wiring 14 km long earthen drainage channels, as well as rehabilitating the southern dirt canals belonging to farmers with a length of 15 km in order to prevent floods and inundation. Agricultural land is watered during the winter.
For his part, the engineer Raad Raad, the supervisor of the implementation of the project, indicated that it is divided into two parts. The first is to isolate the earthen drains to reduce the floods that the region is exposed to in winter, while the second part of the project focuses on the maintenance of channels with the aim of irrigating an area of 2,100 hectares and the maintenance of water sources, ferries and metal gates, which contributes He pointed out that the number of villages benefiting from the project is about 12, directly or indirectly, while the number of farmers who benefited is about 2,000 directly and 400 indirectly.
The representative of the project’s supervisory body, Asef Al-Ibrahim, indicated that the period set for the completion of the project’s work is at the end of next September, whose importance revolves around the flow of water in the channels, pointing out that the paving of the roads located next to these channels will be included during the next period of next year.
Abdullah Al-Sheikh and Ivana Diop