– commissions EDWC projects
Government is proceeding with the Hope Canal project and expects to receive the final design in two weeks, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud says.
He said that the bidding and other necessary documents to proceed with that project are also expected to be completed by that time. The minister was speaking at the commissioning of projects worth $130 million at the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) yesterday. The ceremony saw the re-commissioning of the two Lama sluices, a punt, pontoon and an excavator.
The projects are part of the US$3.8 million World Bank funded Conservancy Adaptation Project (CAP). The two sluices were rehabilitated at a cost of $49.8 million and the project was completed in five months. Its purpose is to discharge flood waters from the EDWC into the Lama creek.
The punt and pontoon, which cost $34 million, will be used to transport the long-reach excavator within the conservancy to clear the waterways as well as to raise and strengthen the conservancy embankments. The excavator was purchased at a cost of $37 million.
Persaud said that over the past years, progress has been made in buttressing, securing and making the conservancy safer. “And we know for decades, the conservancy itself has fallen into a level of neglect and in recent years we’ve been seeking to reverse that and the objective is we want to bolster, to ensure that the dams do not develop cavities; they do not develop slippages and breaches,” he stated while noting the difficulties experienced when there were breaches. Should there be an extensive breach of the conservancy about 70% of the total population will be affected, he asserted.
The minister said that currently there are four excavators and five pontoons that are being operated constantly to clear waterways that were not cleared for decades. He said that a lot of work is being done in terms of widening the dam because when these are narrow, they tend to develop cavities quickly. “We have been giving the EDWC a lot of attention. We’ve treated this as a priority in terms of water management, in terms of flood control”, he said while pointing out that on this part of the coast, the population is living basically in a basin. The conservancy is a critical asset in terms of forestalling, mitigating and even adapting to climate change, he added.
The CAP, which is also supported by the Global Environmental Facility, will lend tremendous support in terms of enhancing the capacity to better support, manage and ensure a safer conservancy, Persaud declared.
He noted that an aspect of the CAP, data collection had experienced a delay. While the EDWC has been in existence for a long time, “our technical people do not really understand scientifically” how it behaves and a lot has been done by guessing, the minister stated. He pointed out that a lot of 1-D modelling has been done but this needs to move to 2-D and 3-D modelling. “We don’t have that information. We need to develop that capacity in terms of using also sonar, using some hydrographic surveys,” he stated noting that there is a need to know how the conservancy flows and have a better understanding of how it behaves so that they can plan for the long term. He stressed that the other conservancies have not been neglected and work is ongoing.
Meantime, given the current dry weather phenomenon – El Nino – the water level in the conservancy has dropped significantly and Persaud disclosed that on Monday night, they begun pumping water into it from the Maduni Creek.
And on the Hope outfall, he said that government has made it clear that it will be investing in this project. “That flood plan has not changed and we are moving ahead in terms of creating that additional outlet,” he said adding that in two weeks’ time, he was advised, the final design, the bidding documents and so forth would be ready to proceed with the project.
Present at yesterday’s ceremony were World Bank Resident Representative, Giorgio Valentini, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dindyal Permaul and representatives of several other agencies.