A news item in the January 21 edition of Stabroek News referred to the damage that has been done and continues to be done to the seawall embankment along the Rupert Craig Highway by the large, unregulated Sunday gatherings. Several stretches have lost their grass cover, the rock layer has been exposed and high tides can seriously undermine the sea defence in the area.
The Head of the Sea and River Defence Division Mr George Howard who is on pre-retirement leave told this newspaper when contacted that the degradation was something of concern but was not “critical” as yet. The acting head of the unit Ms Agnes Dalrymple added that the issue was being addressed at the level of the division and “we are concerned about it”. She said that the problem was being monitored continuously and regular reports are being submitted. Hydraulics Minister Mr Robeson Benn has since said that some of the areas will be barricaded so that repair work can take place.
In a letter in the January 24 edition of SN in response to the news item, engineer Mr Malcolm Alli, who designed the stretch of sea wall in the area under question, pointed out that the earthen embankment is a crucial part of the mechanism to resist the “horizontal thrust from uprush and overtopping from high tides”. He contended that the present erosion and settlement from the foot and cart traffic on Sundays has weakened its ability to perform this function and that “redressing the affected areas will not suffice. I feel a complete redesign may be warranted”.
Mr Alli also pointed out that sometime ago he had written about the large gatherings of people on the sea wall embankment and the building of the Kitty resort on top of the existing sea wall as violations of the sea defence act. He said his interventions were to no avail and he questioned the role of the Sea Defence Board in this matter.
One gets the impression that left on its own the Sea Defence Board would take more robust action to protect the integrity of the sea defences in the area. It is apparent however that decisions have been made by persons in influential positions that have permitted ongoing violations such as the unregulated vending. The erection of the resort and the shenanigans that attended the construction of its parking lot also point irresistibly in the direction of unauthorized decisions. The massing of the Sunday crowds was also a decision that contravened well-established practice.
Sea walls can undoubtedly serve the dual purpose of protection and leisure. But where such leisure endangers or threatens the sea defence in any way it is hard to believe that any government or official connected with protection of the defences would permit it to take place. Each part of the wall is a vital link in the chain of protection from the ever-threatening sea.
The construction and maintenance of sea defences are prohibitive undertakings that cannot be funded out of our resources. The European Union is at the moment funding a sea defence programme worth $5B. It will among other things provide for preventative maintenance and reconstruction as well as the institutional capacity building components.
The handing of the Rupert Craig sea defence embankment by the authorities does not gel with best practice and no amount of remedial work, spin or glossing over will change the fact that what transpires there on Sunday evenings is dangerous to the defences. It is deceitful for the government to hype shore zone protection and mangrove replanting if it then turns a blind eye to this cavalier use of embankment which it has been warned repeatedly about. So whichever high government functionary decided that the feel-good factor on this stretch of the sea wall outweighed any other risk should reconsider his/her assessment. It is way off.
Not only are the gatherings a traffic hazard they are also dangerous to the sea defence in that area. Liming on that scale with vending carts, push cars, ferris wheel etc is usually reserved for purpose-built zones like the area near to the seawall bandstand. That is where the crowds should return. The wall is available to all but the type of mass gatherings which have overrun it recently and threaten the integrity of the sea defence should not be countenanced at all.
At a recent press conference, Head of the Presidential secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon declared that the government intended to apply the full force of the law against those who abuse road, river and sea defence reserves. Weeks later it is a commitment that is being completely flouted.
