AGRICULTURE Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy is optimistic that works on Hope Canal on the East Coast of Demerara will be completed by June 2013 barring any delays.
He made this pronouncement on Friday during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle where he assured that much work is being done to ensure that the structure will be completed before the December 2013 deadline. According to Dr. Ramsammy, about 25 percent of the overall project, which has four components, has already been completed.
“People are not seeing things happening but I want to assure that works are going on even as we speak.   As you know there are four components the biggest of which is the relief channel for the canal. The deadline is December 2013 so we are not behind, we have finished more than 30 percent of that already,” the minister explained.
As to the other components, he  disclosed that construction of the  prefabricated bridge is  ongoing, with the driving of the piles being the most crucial part of this aspect, but he assured that it will be ready in time to accommodate the 300ft wide canal and 8ft high dams of the canal.
He said: “The most important part of this is the laying of the piles which supports the bridge. It is not flat but similar to the one over the Mahaicony River. We did testing last week to make sure that the depth was correct and the contractor brought in a testing company from Trinidad so now that is done the bridge is to be installed.”
Ramsammy explained that most of the work on the bridge itself is being done off site, which would make it seem as though things are progressing slowly when in fact, all is on stream. Alluding to additional aspects he said: “The bridge is supposed to be finished by March next year that is on time; the third component is the sluice that will be at the ocean side, for this, the major work again is the driving of the more than 1000 piles that are needed, that work is going on now but that is behind schedule and due to finish in March. The contractor has assured us that he will finish, that work is going on now.”

Challenges
The Agriculture Minister acknowledged that like most projects, the construction of the Hope canal is not without its challenges, key among them is the connecting the conservancy to the dam.
“The most troublesome part of the project is the fourth part which is connecting the conservancy to the dam. That’s where the contractor is significantly behind schedule, despite this we are being assured that this will be completed by March as well,” he disclosed.
In addition, he pointed out that the Agriculture Ministry had rejected a proposal by the contractor to change the location of the channel, which was another challenge in itself.
The minister expressed confidence that the entire project will be completed in the stipulated time.
“People are not seeing things happen but the Canal is coming. The project is about 25 percent completed, the canal has been built, we are building the dam and the prefab work on the bridge is ongoing, so we are not worried yet about that,” he announced.
In 2011, the most significant single project expenditure was towards the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) Northern Relief Channel at Hope/Dochfour.

The canal, when completed, is expected to help drain the East Demerara Water EDWC into the Atlantic Ocean.
Currently when the water in the conservancy reaches high levels, it is drained through the Maduni and Lama Sluices into the Mahaica and Mahaicony Rivers resulting in flooding of communities in the area and destruction of crops.
The $3.6B Hope/Dochfour Canal was the proposed project to combat the drainage issues facing East Demerara and West Berbice areas, which were found to be very vulnerable to flooding in January 2005; this project has four components.
Component 1: Construction of High Level Outfall Sluice – this is to construct a sluice system by the seawall to discharge water from the Relief Channel into the ocean.
Component 2: Construction of Conservancy Head Regulator – this is to discharge water from the conservancy when the conservancy is too high and under threat into the Hope Relief Channel for eventual discharge into the ocean.
Component 3: Construction of Public Road Bridge- this is necessary because the channel will pass through the public road and a bridge will be necessary.
Component 4: Construction of Relief Channel – the actual channel.
Former Agriculture Minister, Robert Persaud pointed out to Parliament in June 2009, that after the record amounts of rainfall that the country received in January 2005 and every year since, the country has seen the water levels at the East Demerara Water Conservancy exceeding the maximum safe limit for the conservancy.