UNIVERSITY of Guyana Professor Roy Westmaas spoke of relocating our capital Garden City south, inland.This will be hugely expensive, and is at this stage a dream.

Prior to that, I had contacted Go-Invest, asking their support to act as an intermediary with relevant Guyanese agencies of the then PPP Government and other institutions in connection with my plans to harness and set up an industrial site at Craig-Hope waterfront on the East Bank of Demerara, with the intention to manufacture pre-fabricated concrete products such as compressed plates and pilings (1400-psi) for revetment, and land reclamation purposes for sea and riverine defence structures; tubing for shallow wells; internal drainage tubes and “U” liners; solid blocks; square tiles 2-sqm x 0.15-cm; culverts; road edges/shoulders; etc.

I am a Guyanese, Dutch-born national who is practically skilled, oriented and specialised in Hydro-Concrete, Water and Civil Engineering. Currently, I am residing and have worked in the Netherlands for more than 25 years in such a capacity.

With this experience, I give the assurance as a retired Dutch Hydrological Engineer that my involvement in such activity will combat flooding, protect and secure our capital garden city “Georgetown” from destruction and devastation caused by natural disaster and high-tide flooding.

In my outlined proposal to Go-Invest, I proposed that we retreat back into the sea, going outward some 40 metres with a height of 3 metres from the existing and devastated sea walls, commencing from the UG road to the Demerara River mouth tributary and 16 metres out into the affluence of the Demerara River, commencing from Kingston to Meadow Bank-Ruimveldt on the EBD.

This project for setting-up such a base would cost some 10 million euros.

In addition, I have outlined that all internal drainage in and around Georgetown must be raised one metre from its present hydro and geographical location, with interlocked, prefabricated concrete plates and piling revetment.

I am willing to contribute my skills and knowledge to my native Guyana by helping to make available and to facilitate the hydrological surveys, and to provide blueprint engineering drawings that are pertinent to the sea defence structures and internal trench revetment.

To combat and to eliminate high-tide flooding in and around our beautiful and ancient city, to protect and to safeguard our city of heritage, we have to enhance sustainable development with reliable concrete structures on the sea foreshores, sea banks and side-line dam trenches (50 running miles of G/town canals/drainage trenches).

Financing for such a project would be possible, as my existing organisation, the Caribbean Outlook Foundation Inc., which is based in the Netherlands, has affiliates in Guyana.

We are a direct entity to European funding (www.fmo.nl), and not an intermediary entity.

REV. SURUJLALL MOTILALL
(Retired Hydrological Engineer from the Netherlands)