While October 5 was given by GAICO Construction General Services Inc as the date for recommencing the dredging of the Pomeroon River, works have not yet started.
This is according to the Chair of the Region Two council, Vilma De Silva, who responded “Not as yet” when asked on Tuesday by Stabroek News if works had restarted.
Back in April, 2022 the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) under the Ministry of Agriculture signed a $569,300,000 contract with Gaico Construction and General Services Inc for the dredging of the mouth of the Pomeroon River.
The project was to have been completed around September last year and this was then pushed back to February this year. For years, farmers from villages along the Pomeroon River have been affected by inadequate drainage due to extreme siltation at the mouth of the river.
As such, the aim of the project is to have better drainage on their farms, and vessels will have better access to the river during both the low and high tides.
Chief Executive Officer of Gaico Construction, Komal Singh when contacted by Stabroek News last month had explained that there was a timeline, however there was also a delay due to the fact that the project was never examined in detail to understand its full complexity.
He had said that once part of the dredging was completed and they were also able to cut the channel using the backhoe
operation, they would be mobilising shortly to get back to work on phase two with the cutter head which is going to be able to go deeper and wider.
It was explained by the company that for 20 years dredging works have not been done and a hydrographic survey was done, where it found that the river is over 16 to 18 feet deep, but at the mouth, there is heavy siltation.
This has contributed to excess water backing up on lands, resulting in catastrophic floods for residents along the Pomeroon River.
A major contributor to the siltation has been coconut husks. According to the company, while much of the coconut husks have degraded over time, the excessive dumping has contributed to the siltation in the river mouth.
