Speaking to residents in the area at the Hope Primary School, Persaud declared that the government was moving ahead with the project based on the results of thorough feasibility and technical studies. He said that these tests suggested that the canal was a very viable option for managing water in the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) and for avoiding the catastrophic impact of draining water through the Maduni and Lama sluices. In the past when the water has been drained through these sluices it has caused severe flooding in the Mahaica and Mahai-cony areas. He said that persons who were criticizing the government’s decision to invest in the canal had no idea of the hardships experienced by the citizens in these communities.
Persaud said that after the consortium of consultants CEMCO/ SRK’N and Mott McDonald submitted their draft report, the document had been open to the public for scrutiny and he noted that not a single opinion had suggested it was “technically bad” to proceed with the project. The consultants had suggested that a High Level Foreshore Discharge consisting of a shallow outfall channel and a high crested weir (dam) would be the best option to drain water out of the conservancy. The Agriculture Minister had told this newspaper previously that coming out of the consultations some minor adjustments had been made to the draft design.
Persaud told the gathering yesterday that the final design for the project had been completed by the consultants and that the Agriculture Ministry was now prepared to move ahead with the project. He said that the digging of the canals would be done shortly and soon the project would be advertised. The price of the canal had been initially pegged at $3.6 billion.
“We are taking a bit longer because we want to ensure that we do thorough and comprehensive technical work,” Persaud said. According to him, the Agriculture Ministry had already mobilized ten excavators which should arrive in Guyana in the next two weeks. Some of these machines, Persaud said, would be used to dig the canal.
He said that most of the farmers and residents who had to relocate to facilitate the canal had been compensated. Persaud noted too that while there were some who had outstanding matters in this regard, there was an ongoing process to address these issues.
Meanwhile, Persaud took time to criticize the naysayers of the project: “We have this constant problem… where we have segments of our society, especially those who have political interests who seek to delay, derail and misrepresent facts about important development projects.” Persaud said that whenever the administration attempted to engage in transformative projects such as the Berbice River Bridge, the Amaila Falls hydropower plant and this canal, these persons would sound their criticisms.
The Agriculture Minister stressed that the canal would also serve to protect residents on the East Coast and in Georgetown and would help to protect the country’s agriculture sector.
Several questions have been raised by engineers and opposition political parties about the government’s decision to move ahead with this canal, with suggestions that there are cheaper alternatives.
The Guyana Association of Professional Engineers (GAPE) in a response to the draft submitted by the consultants, pointed out that in the conclusions and recommendations section of the Hydrological and Hydraulic Modelling Studies, the consultants noted that “A much shorter relief channel route is possible between Flagstaff and the Mahaica River.” GAPE called for this avenue to be pursued since the possibility existed that this option may be significantly cheaper than the Hope/Dochfour relief channel.
In response, the consultants said that this option had been considered and explained that “if it were possible to drain through the Mahaica, there will be need for continual dredging of the River and the mouth, in addition to raising the river embankments and will be similar to maintenance of the Hope/Dochfour Relief and outfall channel.”
