WORKS are expected to commence soon on a new wharf at the Kumaka waterfront in the Mabaruma sub-region.
Reports are that several stall-holders, who operated at the waterfront close to the location identified for the project, have been relocated from the area to a nearby facility.
A barge with building materials for the project is expected to travel to the North West District soon as the project is expected to start in the coming weeks.

In the 2017 National Budget, a sum of $8M was budgeted under infrastructural development for the construction of the wharf.
The area where the wharf is expected to be constructed was previously threatened by erosion. In 2012, revetment works were undertaken to reclaim a section of the waterfront which was being eroded into the nearby Aruka River. At the time water levels rose in the nearby river and persons who operate businesses in the area were being encouraged to relocate from the waterfront as the landscape was threatened.

Subsequent works, which included further backfilling of the area led to the landscape being stablised against the currents of the nearby river.
The Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) once operated a wharf in the area where the new structure will be built. In 2009, that facility collapsed under the eroding landscape.