–But low water levels will prevent testing most of the year

AGRICULTURE Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has given his word that work on the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) Northern Relief Channel, better known as the Hope Canal, will be completed by the June 30 deadline, with the exception of minor landscaping and finessing works.

He however noted that the low water levels in the canals will prevent the testing of operationalisation for most of this year.
“Operationalisation is likely not to be tested for most of this year, since we do not expect heavy rainfall; and the water has to be at a certain level before it is operationalised,” he told the Chronicle Friday.
Guyana’s rainfall for the period of the last three months has been below the average amount expected for the same period from long-term rainfall averages, and the country is on an El Nino Alert. Also, a Special El Nino working group has since been convened to monitor and plan actions to reduce any adverse impact of a possible El Nino on agriculture production.
The Hope Canal features four main components, namely: The more than 10-kilometre channel; the head regulator; the eight-gate sluice at the canal’s Atlantic end; and the EDWC Northern Relief Channel Public Road Bridge.
The latter has been completed and was commissioned in early February this year by President Donald Ramotar, who noted that the bridge is a quintessential infrastructural investment, particularly because of its economic and humanitarian importance.
Dr. Ramsammy told this newspaper that the eight-gate sluice at the canal’s Atlantic end is 80 per cent completed, with the main structures already in place. The head regulator, on the other hand, is 98 per cent complete, with the only job left being the installation of a wrench, which the Minister said will take a mere two hours.
The more than 10-kilometre channel, he said, has been completed, with the only long-term work remaining being the shaping and reshaping of the embankments.
Projections were that the US $15M Hope Canal project, which is expected to be the answer to the flooding experienced in the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary (MMA) areas during rainy periods, would be operational as the rainy season sets in.
Residents in the MMA area have, over the years, lost crops and cattle in floods, during the rainy period. As seen in the past, when the Maduni Sluice had to be opened to drain the East Demerara Water Conservancy, residents in the MMA area have to battle a rise in the Mahaica Creek, making the completion of the Hope Canal something that is much needed.
Construction on the project began in February 2011, with an estimated 18 months for completion. The deadline for the project was initially set for June 2013, but was subsequently extended to the end of August, and then once again extended to December 31, 2013.

(By Vanessa Narine)