The Project Concept Note (PCN) for the rehabilitation of the Cunha Canal is currently being reviewed by the Steering Committee of the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF).
The Cunha Canal project is to be financed with funds garnered through Guyana’s forests partnership with Norway. The US$1.91M venture is projected to increase the real time drainage capacity of the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) by up to 30%. Last week, the World Bank said that the PCN had been submitted to the GRIF Steering Committee (SC) and is currently being reviewed. The GRIF is the mechanism through which the monies from Norway are channelled to Guyana.
The World Bank, which has funded the Conservancy Adaptation Project (CAP), has been selected as the partner entity through which the funds would flow. The upgrading of the Cunha Canal is an important piece of infrastructure which was identified for implementation as part of the CAP, the PCN says. The investment was chosen for inclusion in the project due to its a high immediate impact on the EDWC, as it will increase the real time drainage capacity of the conservancy by up to 30 per cent, it said.
Responding last week to questions from Stabroek News, an official said that once the PCN is approved by the Steering Committee, the Bank will start writing the Project Appraisal Document (PAD). Typically, the PAD takes about four weeks to finalise including a mission visit to the country, the official said. With regard to the timeframe for the completion of the project, the official said that this is contingent upon the GRIF approval process but at this point, it is scheduled to be completed by March 2013.
The Cunha Canal which discharges into the Demerara River from the EDWC has not been working at its maximum capacity for a number of years. Limited capacity had been restored following the disastrous 2005 floods after the canal fell into disuse in 1990. In 2009 then Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud had told Stabroek News that the project to improve the drainage capacity of the Cunha sluice was a priority and would cost just over US$ 1.5 million. He had said that the proposed work would help to significantly drain the EDWC into the Demerara River. The canal at the time, he had said, was operating at 40 per cent of its capacity.
Resuscitation of the canal has long been called for particularly after the Great Flood of 2005, and following flooding in December 2008 the Guyana Citizens’ Initiative (GCI) called for the reopening of the sluice so as to aid in the drainage of the EDWC. At that time, the GCI had insisted that improving the Cunha sluice would be a better option than the proposed $3 billion Hope Relief Channel which would serve to drain the northern end of the EDWC.
The upgrading of the Cunha Canal is an important piece of infrastructure which was identified for implementation as part of the CAP project but it was later withdrawn from that project and considered a stand-alone project. Government was to have co-financed this project. The economic analysis carried out during project preparation considered five civil works alternatives for decreasing the likelihood of EDWC collapse, and the Cunha Canal was selected from these based on lowest cost, maximum improvement in discharge capacity, and ease of implementation.
The PCN says that the proposed US$1.91M GRIF financed grant will finance the rehabilitation of the drainage channel. The channel will be re-routed, widened and excavated to remove the build-up of sediment and weeds and allow for a straight flow into the Demerara River that eliminates hydraulic restrictions. The canal will be widened to 66.6 feet with a total right of way of 101.2 feet including embankments.
Also included is the building of a new sluice to prevent the inflow of river water during high tide; it will also control the discharge of water. In addition, the project covers the construction of a bridge on the EBD Public Road. A new bridge will be constructed at the point where the canal will intercept the EBD Public Road to allow vehicular traffic to traverse the area.
Since the Guyana-Norway forests’ partnership was inked in November 2009, there has been slow movement on projects. Norway has deposited US$70 million into the GRIF – which is overseen by the World Bank – but it was only earlier this year that some funds were released for a project.
According to the latest GRIF Trustee report, US$6.5 million has been released for one project and other project fees. US$5.94 million was released to the Inter-American Development Bank for the Institutional Strengthening project. This covers the strengthening of the agencies involved in the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). US$570 000 was also released to the IDB as the project preparation and administration fees for the project and for the preparation of the Micro and Small Enterprise Development Fund project. US$63 million remains available for projects.
The funds have recently been the subject of intense debate after the opposition cut from the budget all but one dollar from an allocation of $18.39 billion covering a number of low carbon projects under the Ministry of Finance.
