Minister of Works Robeson Benn said the revetment works at the Kumaka waterfront in Region One should be completed in two months and blamed squatters and equipment delays for the setback in the completion of the works.
Benn was at the time responding in the National Assembly to a question without notice from APNU MP Joseph Harmon, who asked about the situation at Kumaka and said that the revetment works failed to provide protection from the Aruka River.
“Could the minister say when works at the Kumaka waterfront will be completed and at what cost?” Harmon asked.
In response, Benn said that he was unaware of any rise in the water level in the Aruka River and added that works are being undertaken at Kumaka. Benn said that in hindsight the location of the wharf may not be the best place for it, given the geography of the area.
He noted that $20 million was allocated in 2010 for the revetment works and some $40 million in 2011. “We recognised that more work was required,” Benn said. “Over the past week we took up steel pilings to strengthen the revetment. We hope that within two months we could [rectify the problem],” the Minister said.
He added that squatters along the bank of the river continue to hamper the corrective works. Further, he said that there has been no support forthcoming from the local government authorities.
The Kumaka waterfront has been eroding under pressure from the nearby Aruka River for a number of years.
Stabroek News reported in May that new works were afoot to save the riverside community from the river. However, residents told this newspaper that too late may be the cry as the area continues to crumble.
Two weeks ago this newspaper understands the entire waterfront was under water as a spring tide washed ashore. A Kumaka businessman told this newspaper that since work restarted in the area, the situation has worsened. He said road traffic along the waterfront area has stalled.
Members of the business community have no alternative but to pay persons to hoist their goods from a nearby bond at the former Kumaka Marketing Corporation (KMC) wharf, where the North West Ferry, MV Kimbia discharges goods when it arrives. The river has eroded the roadway which links a section of the community where the ferry moors to other parts of the community.
Meanwhile, AFC MP Valerie Garrido-Lowe, in a question without notice, asked Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai what were the arrangements for the granting of Amerindians titled land and whether the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs agreed to such titled land being made available to a Chinese company in Kwebana. Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman noted that Sukhai was out of the country and that the questions will be forwarded to her at the appropriate time. At this point, Presidential Adviser on Governance Gail Teixeira stated that Sukhai was presently attending a conference on indigenous peoples.
