Dear Editor,

In response to a letter captioned ‘A feasibility study should be undertaken to demonstrate whether or not the Hope Canal is the best option to deal with the conservancy problem,’ (SN 1.4.09), the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority wishes to state the following facts:

Technical assessment of the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) and its flow system by both local and international experts indicates that an additional outlet is required in order to improve its safety standards in responding to extreme storm events. Hydraulic modelling of the EDWC was carried out in 2004 under the Hydrology and Water Resources study for the Guyana D&I Rehabilitation Project, and further updated in 2005 by the Task Force for Infrastructure Recovery (TFIR), which provides analytical output from which recommendations were derived in improving the flow and discharge system.

The final report of the TFIR, 2005, prepared by experts from Mott MacDonald, local engineers with input from engineers out of Holland, recommends that a new outlet be constructed, probably the size of the Land of Canaan sluice. This is to evacuate a 10,000-year flood storm. Also, assessment in the Guyana Floods Geotechnical and Hydraulic Assessment of the East Demerara Water Conservancy, UNDAC, in February 2005 suggested the same. Rainfall patterns and water-level recordings have indicated that rainfall water accumulation along the north/east section of the conservancy takes a much longer period to discharge through the eastern relief structures, thus the need for a new outlet to the Atlantic. Works in this regard were recommended and started at Shanks, ECD, while assessment was carried out at Nabaclis. Historically, these outlets were utilized to relieve the pressure on the north-east embankment. However, due to agricultural and housing settlement in the path of these two previously used outlets, it will require large investment with major disruption to re-instate such infrastructures as reported in the Task Force for Infrastructure Recovery, 2005 Final Report and the Conservancy Adaptation Project Document.

As such, a new independent outlet has been identified for construction at the Hope/Dochfour location. Consequently, Guyana Lands and Surveys established a three hundred foot (300′) wide reserve that runs from the EDWC to the sea wall. In this regard, all residents within the project area were invited to at least four meetings over the past two months to discuss the development of the project. At these meetings, parties from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Housing and Water, National Privatisation Unit and the Guyana Lands and Surveys were present to address any agency related issues.

In the path of the reserve, all private property is being valued and will be compensated for at the present-day market value. Additionally, affected households and farmers will be granted house lots and farmlands within the Hope/ Douchfour area.

I wish to inform the writer in the SN letter column dated March 31, 2009 (‘Was the award process for the Hope Conservancy Relief Channel changed from a competitive one to a negotiated one?’) that consultancy services for this project have been solicited through a national competitive bidding process under the National Procurement Act of 2004. The invitation for bids for this project was publicly advertised on January 7, ’09, and closed on January 27, ’09 at the Ministry of Finance. Following an evaluation process of the bids received, a contract was awarded and entered into on March 19, 2009. At no time did the scope of works change or were negotiations carried out with consultants other than those who participated in submitting bids for the project.

The implementation of the project requires technical studies and assessment in developing the most suitable and effective structural design and operation procedures for the outlet. In addition, environmental aspects that involve stakeholders’ participation and construction and operational procedures are part of the terms of reference and will be addressed by the consultant in designing the new outlet.

Yours faithfully,Lionel Wordsworth
Chief Executive Officer (ag)
National Drainage and
IrrigationAuthority