All necessary permissions were obtained from the Sea and River Defence Department of Ministry of Public Works for the construction of a decking platform at the Kitty Seawall.
Chief Sea and River Defence Officer Kevin Samad, in a brief telephone interview, told Stabroek News that the ministry is aware of the project.
The project, which is private-sector funded, is being supervised by the Ministry of Housing and technical officers from the Sea and River Defence Department.
Stabroek News understands that the facility is expected to be completed in time for the planned Cricket Carnival road march on October 2. The event, this newspaper was told, will conclude at the Kitty roundabout with live performances, for which the platform is expected to be used.
Local coastal cleanup group Seawall and Beyond earlier this week raised questions about the construction of the platform.
In a brief post on its Facebook page, the group described the construction as “very odd engineering” and questioned the rationale behind it.
However, Samad explained that from the department’s monitoring of the shoreline, the engineering is sound for the construction of the deck facility.
Samad explained that the foreshore has accreted in recent months and the unprecedented elevation has seen a reduction of intense wave action or hydraulic loading on the existing sea defence structure.
Speaking from a technical point of view, he said that with the foreshore changes along the coastline of the east coast it is possible that the area will soon aid the natural regeneration of mangroves. This is similar to what is happening at the Better Hope and Ogle foreshores.
