Dear Editor,
Thanks to the response of the Corporate Secretary of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) to Mr Sohan’s claims I now have a clearer assessment of how the NDIA operates and how our country’s money is spent (‘Local and international studies agree that the EDWC needs an additional outlet…’ SN, March 20).
Let me spell out my understanding in order to ask for further enlightenment.
1. The consultants say the Hope-Dochfour channel will reduce the frequency of operation of the Lama sluices. If the Lama sluices are to be held in a state of readiness for use every 20 to 50 years then they have to be maintained, otherwise when too much rain falls they will be unable to be used when needed. And if they have to be maintained why not do it properly and use them all the time, together with the other outlets also properly maintained?
2. “The recently inked US$2.7 million consultancy contract… will see a study and assessment on the EDWC being undertaken in a comprehensive way. In addition, studies will be undertaken which will allow for a better understanding of how the conservancy operates.” Well, shiver me timbers, is Mr Chandan saying they don’t really know how to operate the EDWC? I am sure Mr Sohan would happily take that figure in G$ to tell them how to do it.
3. It further boggles the mind to know that they are spending this US$2.7 million to understand how to operate the conservancy better when the Corporate Secretary of the NDIA declares, “for the record, the EDWC has an operating manual which serves as a guideline for the efficient running of this key facility.” When ‘efficient’ is used like this in the English language it implies ‘best.’ If they want to do it better why not first consult the people who operated and maintained it earlier?
4. With respect to the La Niña weather phenomenon, the mere fact that we happened to have studied and measured it more carefully recently does not mean that it has not been around for centuries. It is part of life; we plan for it, not use it as an excuse. It is not ‘climate change.’
5. I cannot seem to get over the enormity of US$2.7 million being used for a study and assessment. This is G$540 million for a study, not a remedy. Forgive me for thinking that, from all the pronouncements of the government and Mr Chandan, the Hope-Dochfour channel is already the remedy. So if the government has the answer what are we supposed to be studying?
6. $540M is more than the $250M that poor UG needs to balance its approved budget (SN March 20 editorial). The remainder could easily go towards paying our own Maths and Science teachers or improving laboratories.
7. If the $540M has to be spent on drainage and irrigation, this is how it should be spent: Pay and equip the Hydrographic Survey Department for their important work, which has to cover all our many rivers and even the conservancies. The bright young minds that I used to encounter at UG might have been encouraged to study Physics and Mathematics had we had access to such data – instead of them turning to study more remunerative professions or leaving for countries that do not merely pay lip service in appreciating them.
My above understanding is derived only from analysing the limited information the government grudgingly made available regarding matters affecting our livelihoods and even existence. I do not personally know Mr Sohan, but I am grateful that he and the Stabroek News, unlike our secretive government, credit citizens with enough sense to understand what is going on.
This is the kind of information taxpayers should expect from an entity called the Government Information Agency (GINA). It unashamedly continues to exist primarily as a propaganda arm of the government, like its predecessors in previous governments that called it the ‘Ministry of Information.’ If they have nothing to hide why can’t they give details of the outrageous $540M ‘studies’ to concerned citizens?
Just think how blessed would be the government that has the vision to fund an office of the University of Guyana on the premises of GINA, and an office of GINA on the UG campus with access to academics capable of delivering pertinent explanations. There, citizens and students (the architects of our future) would be able to allay their fears and build their dreams with plans founded on accurate, detailed, and transparent information.
This would realize section 18 (formerly 17) (n) and (o) of the University of Guyana Act (Cap 39:02 of the Laws of Guyana):
“The University shall be both a teaching and an examining body and shall… have the following powers, rights, and duties –
(n) to make provision for research and advisory services and with these objects to enter into such arrangements with other institutions or with public bodies as may be thought desirable;
(o) to provide for the printing and publication of research and other works which may be issued by the University.”
For too long have students and lecturers borne the burden of merely printing their own research. Please also note that nothing prevents the concept of the university as an “examining body” extending to the assessment of matters like the operation of the conservancy, for which they can earn some of the US$2.7 million.
Yours faithfully,
Alfred Bhulai
