THE Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) is looking at ways to improve Guyana’s sea
defence system and is finalising a coastal engineering design manual, with the support of
the European Union (EU).A two-day staff training workshop kicked off Tuesday at Cara Lodge and Minister of Public
Infrastructure David Patterson as well as EU Ambassador to Guyana Jernej Videti delivered
brief remarks.
Under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) framework from 2007 to 2013, EU–Guyana
cooperation has focused on a number of areas, including sea defences.
The beneficiary of this latest project – the production of a Coastal Engineering Design
Manual – is the Guyana Sea and River Defence Division, under the MPI.
During Tuesday’s workshop, Minister Patterson explained that coastal engineering management
is particularly important to Guyana, due to factors such as climate change and the fact that
Guyana is below sea level.
He noted, therefore, that Guyana must look at sustainable and long-term solutions to sea
defence.
“It’s very important that we recognise that coastal engineering extends way beyond the
construction of physical sea barriers,” he said.
He further said that the production of a design manual and the discussions which would
come out of the workshop were important in the government’s fight to ensure that the
citizenry is protected.
Minister Patterson also acknowledged the EU’s role and noted that the international body
has been a major donor to Guyana with regard to its sea defence.
He said too that it was important that the ministry and the EU came together to train staff
and inform them about the manual before it is implemented. He expressed hope that the
workshop would foster more innovative methods of sea defence.
Similarly, EU Ambassador Videti also spoke of the need for sustainability in Guyana’s sea
defence system. He stated that coastal engineering was an important sector which has seen
the Government of Guyana and the EU working together to solve issues. He added that sea defence
has been a focus of the EU for decades.
LACK OF MAINTENANCE
In terms of Guyana’s sea defence, the Ambassador said that due to the lack of adequate
maintenance of existing barriers along with the gradual destruction of mangrove forests,
the protection of Guyana’s coastal zone was drastically reduced.
This reduction, he said, has increased the need for rehabilitation, while long-term
sustainable measures became urgent.
He concluded by stressing that the manual will be a useful and easily accessible tool and
he expressed the hope that it will be used to build a strong strategy for Guyana.
The present manual aims to provide appropriate and practical guidance for applications of
methods and techniques with regard to the design and implementation of coastal engineering
projects in Guyana.
These projects concern new constructions or repair and rehabilitation of existing ones;
the prevention of the erosion of oceanic, estuarine, and recessed coasts; coastal flooding;
and the heavy damage from wave attacks to valuable coastal commercial, urban and tourist
communities of Guyana.
The manual was put together by a team of four consultants, including a coastal engineering
specialist, a geotechnical specialist, and an engineering specialist.
These consultants had spent time in Guyana interacting with a number of agencies,
including the Ministry of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Transport
and Harbours Department (T&HD), and Central Housing and Planning Authority.
So far, the manual is a 14-chapter document and is still being refined. Focus areas in the
document include integrated planning for sea and river defence works in Guyana; the
physical site conditions and data-collection issues; and natural flood protection systems
along Guyana’s oceanic coast and river banks and their relevance to the shore zone
management process.
Primarily, the workshop saw the participation of MPI employees across the different
agencies.