Top priority for Hope Canal

Tenders soon for massive $3B project
THE new Hope Canal to ease pressure on the dam of the massive East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) will be six-and-a-half miles long and tenders will soon be put out for the $3B project, sources said yesterday.

The decision to cut the new channel to the Atlantic was announced Monday by President Bharrat Jagdeo during a tour of parts of Mahaica, Mahaicony and the Abary which are under water released from the storage basin to help prevent the conservancy embankment from collapsing.

Officials said the level in the 100 square miles storage basin rose beyond a manageable level because of persistent record heavy rain since last month and excess water had to be released through the Maduni Creek to preserve the earthen dam.

That discharge has left farmers and others in the prime agriculture region under water and the President toured the area Monday with a team of ministers and other high level officials.

The sources yesterday said the level of the embankment of the new channel to the Atlantic through Hope will be as high as the dam of the conservancy.

“This is a high priority project and we are mobilizing for the work ahead”, one source said.

Digging and clearing land for the channel will be done by excavators and draglines and the depth of the new waterway is to be determined, the source added.

According to the official, land earmarked for the canal does not include current farmland.

Mr. Jagdeo said two control sluices will be built at either end of the Hope Canal.

Opening a new outlet from the EDWC directly to the Atlantic has been on the drawing board among other long-term investments for the drainage and irrigation sector.

But it has been given fresh impetus with the heavy toll exacted on crops and livestock farmers by discharging overflow from the EDWC through the Maduni Creek, the President indicated.

During a tour last month of drainage pumps at Liliendaal, about four miles east of Georgetown, he said cutting another outlet channel for the EDWC will complement the release of water through the outfalls to the Demerara River at Cunhia and Land of Canaan.

The additional outfalls will reduce the pressure of having to release water from the conservancy into the Mahaica and Mahaicony rivers, he told reporters.

He said the government of Japan is considering a US$40M loan for the sector and longer term investments include building the second phase of the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary (MMA) scheme, strengthening sea defences, putting in between 30 and 40 sluices to drain water by gravity flow, buying more pumps and raising the embankment of the EDWC.

The President on Monday said half of the money for the Hope Canal will be allocated in this year’s budget with the remainder to be provided next year.

He said the government is looking for short-term measures that could provide relief to citizens and the canal through Hope is one of these.

He, however, said that the allocation of funds to construct the canal means some other infrastructure programmes will be put on hold as the resources available to the government are limited.

He noted that the EDWC has to be kept in good shape and releasing water through the Maduni was unavoidable, even though the impact on people in Mahaica, Mahaicony and the Abary has been tremendous.

Excess water puts a strain on the earthen dams of the basin and any significant burst can mean devastation in many parts of East Coast and Georgetown.

If the water level is too low, sections of the dam may collapse inwards, posing huge problems for people, officials said.

The President explained that prior to the current rainy season, the level of the conservancy was eased to 52 GD (Georgetown Datum) but because of the amount of rainfall, it rose to 59 GD and this had endangered the embankment.

It therefore became imperative to discharge water through the Maduni because if this was not done, the pressure could have caused the conservancy dam to break, emptying the more than 100 billion gallons of water in the basin onto the coastland, creating devastation, he noted.

He said studies have shown that long-term solutions to this problem will require some US$400M for adequate infrastructure in Regions Four and Five to cope with excessive rainfall.

Guyana condemns atrocities perpetrated against Palestinians – President Jagdeo
calls for immediate ceasefire
President Bharrat Jagdeo, in an invited comment yesterday on the escalation of the crisis between Israel and Palestine, said that he has been following with grave concern the events that have unfolded at the Gaza strip, which he said seem to be a form of sanctioned genocide.

He told the Government Information Agency, “The Jewish people have suffered much over the years through persecution and the disproportionate use of force; and of all peoples, should understand the plight of the Palestinian people. Guyana condemns absolutely the atrocities being perpetrated against the people of Palestine, especially the murder of innocent women and children,” the President said.

The Guyanese Leader said that the Government of Guyana has over the years advocated a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the people of Israel and Palestine living in their independent countries in peace and harmony.

“The Government of Guyana will continue to support this position and therefore calls for an immediate ceasefire and for the two sides to return to the negotiating table. Only through this medium could a solution be found for peace between the peoples of Israel and Palestine,” he said.

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