CABINET last Tuesday signalled its ‘green light’ to a contract worth in excess of $80M that is expected to boost the work and progress of the East Demerara northern relief channel, well known as the Hope Canal,  East Coast Demerara.

Secretary to the Cabinet, Dr Roger Luncheon, yesterday made the announcement at his usual post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the President, Georgetown.
Cabinet’s no-objection to the contract now makes possible the supply of fuel and lubricants for the operation, servicing, and monitoring of the NDIA’s (National Drainage and Irrigation Authority) hydraulic excavators, bulldozers and draglines that are being used in the construction of the canal.
A June deadline has been set, but Luncheon, who is also Head of the Presidential Secretariat, yesterday reported that the project is not on schedule. He is, however, leaving it up to the Project Execution Unit to provide details of the delay.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister, Dr.  Leslie Ramsammy last month urged contractors to make good use of the favourable weather conditions available at present. In an interview with the state media, he said the project was approximately 38 percent completed.
The US$15M undertaking, which is expected to be the answer to the flooding experienced in the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary areas in rainy periods, has four components – the over 10-kilometres channel from the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC), a bridge across the public road, a conservancy head regulator with three gates and a sluice at the canal’s Atlantic Ocean end that will have eight gates.
The canal is being excavated by NDIA within the Agriculture Ministry, while BK International, DIPCON Engineering and Courtney Benn Contracting Services are contracted for the other three components.
According to Ramsammy, the earthen work, that is the digging of the canal, is about 85 percent finished and the dams are nearly 30 percent done. The construction of the bridge is some 38 percent complete and the head regulator, which is to release water from the conservancy into the canal, is now near 40 percent completion.
In addition, Ramsammy mentioned that the eight-door sluice to release water from the canal into the ocean is about 28 percent ready.
He had said that the work being done by the NDIA is moving at a reasonable pace. The authorities are hoping that work will be accelerated on the other components since the additional 15 percent of the canal to be dug is entirely dependent on those being completed.
The engineers cannot risk building the canal all the way before the sluice is ready since this will put the project at risk from the sea. And they cannot take the canal to the conservancy until the head regulator is in place, the minister explained.