The Ministry of Public works has submitted a budgetary requisition for another dredge to aid the work now being done by vessel Steve N, which has been in operation since the early 1980s.
“The Steve N is a very old dredge and continues to serve us well over many years .However, to assist with its workload we have put in for another in the 2012’s budget submission and are waiting,” said Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn, during a recent interview with this newspaper.
Benn had then indicated that the dredging vessel was currently on dry dock undergoing maintenance repairs because of a malfunction. He said that it would be out and functional sometime in the middle of this month or by month end the latest.
Benn explained that his ministry’s proposal to government is not for a brand new dredge, given the exorbitant cost of acquiring such a dredge and also the long waiting time—two years or more—it may have to wait after giving the company invoice specifications.
“Acquiring a new dredge is not as easy as saying we need a new dredge and having it delivered tomorrow. The cost for one is extremely high. We would have to first have the money available to purchase one and that is not possible at this time. Also, we would have to give the company the order specification and wait for one to be made according to that specification, which takes at least two years,” he said.
Many companies using port Georgetown, including Sol(Guyana) more recently, have bemoaned the effects of the silty build up in the Demerara channel, especially since the Steve N was not operational. Benn had indicated that the vessel usually worked 24-hours to de-silt the Demerara channel to make travel of shipping vessels smoother.
