Dear Editor,
I refer to an article in KN dated 19.12.08 where the President was reported as saying he was satisfied with the $1.7M spent so far this year on drainage and that the government will take over the operation of the pump stations at Kitty and Liliendaal from the city and will spend millions to rehabilitate the pumps.
The pumps are too old and should be replaced with new ones, not rehabilitated.
The Kitty Pump Station was built, and two pumps of 12 inches and 16 inches in diameter installed in 1967 and 1968 respectively, one to drain the GDF and the other to drain David Street, Kitty. Similarly the Liliendaal Pump Station with two much larger pumps was installed in 1977.
All four pumps have outlived their 25-year life expectancy and could have lasted longer if regularly maintained. What the President should be doing is to provide funds to rehabilitate the main supply canal to the Liliendaal Pump Station, including cleaning out the two concrete siphons under the conservancy supply canal as well as the culvert under the main roadway and drainage basin. This will enable the new pumps, if installed, to work freely. I do not believe these maintenance works were ever carried out since the pump station was built. Garbage and plastic bags should present no problem providing the trash rack is in place and the operator is present to remove the encumbrances.
Funds should also be provided likewise to remove the roof of the Kitty Pump Station, clean out the inside of the SSP Basin and chip, clean and paint the SSP. The size of the pump station should also be increased and new and larger pumps installed to provide extra drainage.
Millions have been spent this year and in previous years with no alleviation for the poor souls along the coast from being inundated on a regular basis. The flooding will continue until the entire drainage system is re-designed by qualified D& I engineers and rebuilt to its 1975 level when maintenance was stopped due to the shortage of funds.
The rainfall today is no different from the 1960s and 1970s. There was no flooding except for short periods. The Hydraulics Division always compensated farmers for any losses due to long periods of flooding and the government of today should continue to do so.
The system was designed to discharge 2 inches per diem and with semi-diurnal discharge through the sluices and there should be no problem to drain the area if properly designed and maintained.
The government also faces severe flooding problems emanating from the EDWC that was also poorly maintained since 1970. This conservancy is suffering from a capacity syndrome and installing more outlets to the sea would be a waste of money and would not prevent any future collapse of the dam, which has been chopped to pieces over the last few years.
The sea defences are in an even worse state. I would not rule out severe breaches in the Montrose area where the 45-year-old concrete sea wall suffered enormous damage due to severe overtopping earlier this year and last year.
Yours faithfully,
M. Alli
Former Specialist Engineer and CHO
Hydraulics Division
