Completion of Hope Canal further delayed

The canal section of the East Demerara Water Conservancy Project

BY VAHNU MANIKCHAND

The completion of the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) Northern Relief Channel has been further delayed as works on the Hope Canal Project are still ongoing.

Last month, Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy had told Guyana Times that the EDWC Hope Canal Project is expected to be completed by the end of June; however, this deadline could not have been met due to several delays.

Minister Ramsammy on Sunday expressed his disappointment that there has been yet another delay in the completion of the project; however, he noted that all the time-consuming work has been completed, and only a small percentage of the work remains.

“If good weather prevails then we should finish the work within a month or so, but if not, it will take longer,” the Minister said. He added too that while he cannot give a specific date as to when the project is expected to be completed, he is scheduled to meet with the engineers to fix a date.

Delays

The Agriculture Minister noted that while the $3 billion project has experienced several delays, it has not exceeded its initial budget. Dr Ramsammy noted that with the completion of the bridge, half of the project’s work is done. He disclosed that the head regulator of the eight-door sluice is 98 per cent completed while the outer sluice is 85 per cent completed. Most of the work is also done on the Canal; however, there are some areas in the Canal that were not dug.

The Minister explained that this is because persons, mostly students, from the neighbouring community use those areas as a short cut to get to Anns Grove via Douch Four and if the canal was completely dug out then students would have had to walk all the way around using the public road.

Dr Ramsammy noted that a walk bridge will be built connecting the Hope New Scheme to Douch Four so that students would not have to face difficulties in getting access to their schools. He added that the bridge was not budgeted for, so the funds would have to be acquired.

Meanwhile, a wrench is currently being acquired for the head regulator of the eight-door sluice. According to the Minister, the piece of equipment has been purchased from a US-based company and they are awaiting its arrival. The wrench will be placed at the top of the regulator to help lift the gate of the sluice and will take approximately half of a day to be installed.

Foundation completed

As it relates to the outer sluice, the Agriculture Minister explained that the major foundation work has been completed; however, whatever small works left to done have been delayed by the rain. Additionally, a gate has to be installed and a walkway has to be built at the top of the sluice for the workers to access.

Dr Ramsammy further stated that the current head regulator is manually operated; however, sometime in the near future, the Ministry would change to an automated system. The EDWC Hope Canal Project is an initiative of the Government to prevent excessive flooding along the EDWC, an area prone to floods particularly after heavy rainfall.

Following the 2005 floods, in 2008, excessive rainfall resulted in Regions Four and Five experiencing massive floods, and as such, then Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) commenced exploration of the Northern Relief Channel to address the situation.

The NDIA was mandated to establish a plan to undertake the necessary hydrological studies and an Environmental Management Plan. CEMCO/SRKN Engineering, in association with Mott Mc Donald, was given the consultancy project to the value of $64 million for a 14-month period.

The contract for the construction of the Hope Canal Project was awarded to Courtney Benn Contracting Services, DIPCON Engineering and BK International. The first mentioned contractor was tasked with the construction of the eight-door sluice while BK International was assigned with the construction of the three-gated head regulator.

DIPCON was awarded the contract of the $350 million overhead bridge, which the Agriculture Ministry commissioned on February 15 last. The Ministry also took the responsibility of the excavation of the 10.3 kilometre long earthen channel.(vahnum@guyanatimesgy.com)