Clarendon Custos, William 'Billy' Shagoury (left), and inventor Hopeton Henry pose outside the winning Clarendon parish pavilion on day three of the annual Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show in May Pen, Clarendon on Monday. (Photo/Video: Llewellyn Wynter)
Somewhere between his primary occupation as a prominent media videographer and his background as a trained and licensed electrician, Hopeton Henry of May Pen, Clarendon has managed to formulate a few innovative concepts over the years.
Now he has taken things up many notches into the realm of an extremely intriguing new invention.
Perched inside the eventual winning Clarendon parish pavilion at the annual Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show in May Pen, Clarendon over the Independence weekend, was a Self-Powered Water Pump, courtesy of Henry’s heroics.
Heroics because the water pump that was on display could convey the precious commodity to elevated levels and to the targeted point or points all without the use of electricity of fuel.
And with the promise that the unit can be produced to serve especially farmers’ irrigation needs through the pumping of the precious commodity from whatever nearby source, whether a gully, stream, a well – you name it – Henry is now into the refinement stages of the unit ahead of gradually rolling out of the almost magical new machinery.
Actually powered by a concept and formulation that will remain somewhat of a mystery for some time, the pump’s relevance should be taken within the context of an outline from none other than Prime Minister Andrew Holness in his address at the Denbigh Show on Monday.
There, Holness indicated that approximately 200,000 hectares of arable lands exist nationally, but only about 31,000 hectares are now in use for cultivation, instead of at least 50 per cent that would be able to satisfy produce needs locally and allow for more exportation regionally.
Among the critical factors which the prime minister said were hampering the desired levels of increase in farm land usage is irrigation. He said with two major irrigation water supply schemes slated to come on stream in St Elizabeth soon, the schemes at Essex Valley and Pedro Plains will take the country to just 18 per cent usage of the available arable lands.
Big irrigation water schemes aside, the Self-Powered Water Pump seems poised to make some serious inroads in the sector in the near future, as based on Henry’s outline in the accompanying video, once acquired, it should be smooth sailing for medium and small-scale farmers through the elimination of their irrigation water woes, and at no energy or fuel cost to boot!
Hear Henry’s outline of what the pump is capable of doing, some of the exciting supporting features it can carry, his work to take it to the presentation stage, and also witness a ringing endorsement for the initiative from a very prominent and highly regarded Jamaican, Clarendon’s Custos, William ‘Billy’ Shagoury.
