Dear Editor,
On a recent visit to Guyana I noticed the government some time ago placed several layers of heavy boulders of varying sizes and weight on the upper berm of the Georgetown sea defences, which were built in 1972.
Some of these boulders exceed over 3 tonnes in weight and are several times higher than the original design concept, which calls for 1400 lbs boulders to be placed from 60.0 GD to 54.0 GD on a 1:4 slope. This work, which was not critical, was not carried out in 1972 due to shortage of funds at the time. The boulders are only placed to dissipate the upward rush of the waves if the foreshore should erode.
The thickness of the bitumen grouted boulder mattress is only 8in at the berm, and I estimate the boulders placed exceed 5 times the design load. If these boulders were dropped from a height during construction the boulders‘ mattress may have already been punctured and seepage of water at high tides over a period of time could have a detrimental affect on the sea defences, including the adjacent RC copings and roadway as a whole.
I am surprised the authorities responsible did not refer to the drawings that were lodged in the Hydraulics Division at the time before carrying out this work.
The sea defences in the coastal areas have also been poorly maintained and neglected over the years. Several areas were re-aligned during the ’60s and to date the government has failed to build adequate sea defences to protect the heavily built-up coastal areas. From UG to Better Hope the stone from the gabion baskets has been dislodged due to severe erosion and heavy wave action. At low tide only seawater can be seen. This indicates the foreshore has eroded appreciably. No attempt has been made to arrest the situation.
The D& I sectors are faced with similar problems. There are already two silted rivers – the Abary and Demerara Rivers. The Berbice River in a few years will also follow suit similar to the Demerara River, but it will be worse since the Berbice Bridge is located near the mouth of the river. The Berbice River is also noted for siltation. The President, to date, has not followed the advice of his own consultant who recommended the removal of nearly 200,000 m3 of silt under the pontoons on an annual basis. The build-up of this silt will cause severe problems upstream ultimately causing salt-water intrusion into the Torani Canal and then into the Canje Creek. This will spell disaster for the farming community in the Berbice area.
Whoever wins the next election will have a hard time repairing the infrastructure that has been neglected and damaged by this government over the last 20 years.
Yours faithfully,
M Alli
