Chairman of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority Walter Willis said that the agency is evaluating bids related to the construction of the Hope Canal and added that weather permitting, work on empoldering and drainage for the project will commence ahead of schedule.
Speaking to this newspaper yesterday, Willis said that tenders have been made for the supply of geotextile material and for timber mats, and also for supervisory services. He said that only one bid was so far received and this was from CEMCO/ SRK’Ngineering.
“We are in the process of evaluating this bid in order to make recommendation to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board,” said Willis.
He said the bid was received on September 14 and it will take about two weeks for the evaluation of this. He said too that on completion of the review, there will be the award of a contract, “but we have to wait on the geotextile and the textile mats. If there is a possibility that we go in and start, then we will start the empoldering and drainage works,” he said. Willis said because of the state of the terrain, it will be difficult to commence the work without the timber mats since the heavy equipment will need to be resting on a solid surface. But he said that if the weather improves and the terrain is in a state to accommodate the heavy equipment, then the works may begin ahead of schedule.
The cost for the completion of the canal is expected to be upwards of $3 billion. The rationale for the project is that it will provide much needed relief of the East Demerara Water Conservancy in times of heavy rainfall and let out the excess water to the Atlantic Ocean. This is also meant to bring relief to hundreds of residents in the Mahaica and Mahaicony area who suffer when a swollen EDWC has to be relieved, for fear of a flooding catastrophe along the lower East Coast.
The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) had invited proposals for the provision of supervision services for the construction of the canal. Technical and financial proposals were solicited from suitably qualified and experienced consultants to provide consultancy services for the provision of supervision services for the canal’s construction and related drainage and irrigation canals.
In another advertisement, the NDIA invited bids for three projects, the first being for the operation, servicing and monitoring of NDIA excavators for the construction of the East Demerara Water Conservancy Northern Relief Channel at Hope/Dochfour, and the second for the supply of the timber mats for the construction of the EDWC and associated drainage and irrigation canals. The third project is for the supply of geotextile material for the Construction of the EDWC and the associated drainage.