CABINET, earlier this month, gave its no-objection to a contract worth $54.31M to acquire materials for the construction of stainless steel gates for the East Demerara Northern Relief Channel, well known as Hope Canal, East Coast Demerara.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, made the disclosure recently, at his usual post-Cabinet press conference in Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown.
Previously, Cabinet had granted its approval for a contract in excess of $80M that was intended boost work and progress on the same project.
The latter made possible the supply of fuel and lubricants for the operation, servicing and monitoring of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA’s) hydraulic excavators, bulldozers and draglines that are being used to construct the canal.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has reported that the most time consuming aspects of the work have been completed.
He told the Guyana Chronicle that, while a large percentage remains to be done, the project should be ready by the extended deadline of August 2013.
Initially, the time for completing the job had been set as March 2013 but was, subsequently, put back to June and then further to August.
In March, the minister had emphasised that August was the last extension and there will be none beyond that month.
The US$15M scheme, slated to be the solution to flooding experienced in the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary areas during rainy periods, has four components:
* the more than 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, which will
have eight gates.