FOLLOWING sentiments expressed by Vice Chairman of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, that the much needed Hope Canal is an “extravagance” and “was not necessary,” Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has expressed his disappointment in Roopnaraine’s utterances, deeming them as “reckless” and “unbecoming.”
The Hope Canal which has come under much criticism for the delay in its completion is without doubt, a necessary project, the Agriculture Minister said yesterday in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle.
“There could have been no doubt that the five discharge points for conservancy was not enough to have effective maintenance,” Dr. Ramsammy assured.
The East Demerara Water Conservancy in the past had 10 discharge points, with three on the East Bank of Demerara discharging into the Demerara River; two at Mahaica; and five discharge points on the East Coast of Demerara – all leading to the Atlantic Ocean.
Rebuffing Dr. Roopnaraine’s comments that “that what was required to deal with the conservancy was to ensure that the outlets in Demerara were in order; that the internal arrangements within the conservancy were dealt with so water would move easily towards the outlet,” the minister disclosed that five of the discharge points were “misguidedly closed down by the PNC Government for no explainable reasons.”
However, he noted that over the years, Lama and Maduni Canals were forced to reopen due to climate change and as such, these became frequent discharge points.
Subsequently, extensive studies which were done by highly-qualified personnel brought about a realisation that the five discharge points were inadequate and a more direct route was needed. “It was no doubt that an extra discharge point was needed… We needed a more direct discharge into the Atlantic,” the minister added.
As such, the idea of the Hope Canal was birthed so as to reduce economic hardship and combat the issue of flooding whenever heavy rainfall was experienced. The Hope canal to this extent will act as a mechanism to reduce the volume of water in the Maduni and Lama Canals, thereby reducing the chances of flooding on the coastlands, particularly in Georgetown and the Mahaica-Mahaicony. The canal will also act as a protective mechanism for the integrity of the dam, which, if broken as a result of the water pressure, could result in an erosion of the entire coastal plain.
Continuously stressing on the importance of the Hope Canal to Guyana’s reduction of economic hardship, Ramsammy added that there is utmost need to protect Georgetown, the East Bank of Demerara and the East Coast, particularly from flooding.
“I don’t see it as extravagant,” Dr. Ramsammy said, adding: “We are trying to improve economic hardship and anytime we attempt to help people, it is always extravagant. The expansion of the airport, the Amaila Falls Hydropower project, the specialty hospital; all these have been seen as extravagant.”
It is against this backdrop, and that of extensive pronouncement on the importance on the project that the minister lamented his disappointment in Dr. Roopnaraine’s utterances which the minister also deemed as a “PNC line” and something “unbecoming” of him to say.
The $3.6B, four-component project comprises a channel, a high-level sluice outfall structure, a conservancy head regulator and a public bridge. The latter was completed and commissioned in February of last year.
On completion, the channel will join the conservancy at a point on its north-eastern embankment, cutting across 10.3km of the coast to spill directly into the Atlantic Ocean. The excess water from the conservancy will drain into the canal via the three-door sluice at that end, and run along the excavated channel and spilling into the Atlantic via the eight-door high-discharge sluice structure.
All the super structure of the Hope Canal project was set to be completed by December 31. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the project is expected to be completed and the canal, operational sometime this year.
Written By Ravin Singh
