THE desilting of the river channel alongside the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySuCo) largest berthing facility, located at the Demerara Sugar Terminal (DST) in Ruimveldt, is expected to be completed on Friday, May 14. According to a press release from the corporation, the multi-million dollar venture which commenced on May 1, 2021, is a collaborative initiative between the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), the Ministry of Public Works and GuySuCo. The aim is to prepare the company to maximize the opportunities being created by the country’s emerging oil and gas sector. According to the press release, the channel has not been desilted since 2014. It added that the terminal was built with concrete and steel several decades ago and is used by ships transporting sugar for bulk storage at the terminal to be sold on both the local and export markets. Once the desilting process is completed, the facility will have the potential to dock large vessels.

In lauding the initiative to desilt the river channel, Roger Bradshaw, Manager of the Demerara Sugar Terminal, said the desilting exercise was much needed since the huge deposit of silt was affecting the facility’s operational efficiency resulting sometimes in increased operational cost to offload or load a vessel.
“During low tides, we cease operations and wait until the water rises during high tide for us to complete our tasks whether it’s offloading or loading a vessel,” he said.
The exercise is said to also be integral to GuySuCo’s Strategic Plan to maximize the usage of all its facilities to become economically viable once again.
In this light, GuySuCo intends to extend the services offered at the terminal in wake of the increasing demand for such services by Guyana’s emerging oil and gas sector. Bradshaw said that on completion of the desilting process, ships with a maximum length of 400 meters and a draft of 7 meters can berth at the facility. There will also be a significant increase in operational efficiency due to the reduced number of stoppages as a result of built-up silt, he added.