Dear Editor,
I read the recommendations of Dr David Singh of Conservation International in a recent lecture to the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce . One of his recommendations to address global warming in Guyana is to raise the seawalls.
This will cost billions of dollars, something he hinted at but still recommends it be done.
Has Dr Singh considered the fact that most of our drainage to get water off the land is by gravity flow through the sluice system? We will have to discontinue this system as the seas continue to rise and the Atlantic Ocean is constantly at the same level as the seawall. We will thus be prevented from opening the sluices. We already see a gradual move away from the sluice system to the use of pumps to get the water over the walls.
Then there are the many rivers. Does Dr Singh recommend we build seawalls along the banks of the rivers as well to keep the water out? Frequently when there are high tides, with the current sea levels, the rivers overflow and flood some communities. Imagine what will happen when the ocean is always the same level as the current seawall. Large parts of the rivers will overflow their banks, permanently flooding large parts of the coastlands.
Yours faithfully,
Ganesh Singh
