AS Guyana prepares for yet another rainy season, construction of rip-rap sea defences at Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara, has been completed, according to a post made on the official Facebook page of President Dr. Irfaan Ali.

The Uitvlugt project, which costs $226 million, covers 300 metres of sea defences, and forms part of a comprehensive set of sea defence works being undertaken in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).

Those works, totalling $620 million altogether, also stretches across the communities of Anna Catherina and Zeelugt, covering a total of 800 metres of shoreline across the West Coast of Demerara.

The contracts for works at Uitvlugt and Anna Catherina, which surpassed $459 million, were awarded to Puran Brothers Disposal Incorporated, while the $159,899,600 contract for work at Zeelugt was awarded to Platinum Investments Incorporated.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, had previously said that the government recognises the discomfort and dangers that inadequate sea defences could bring to a community.

It was only in May of this year that the rainy season wreaked havoc across the country, forcing President Dr. Irfaan Ali to declare a National Level Two Disaster due to flooding.

The floodwaters, which surpassed 15 feet in some areas, devastated in excess of 52,000 households across 300 communities, whilst destroying thousands of hectares of farmlands.

It was reported that, in the community of Zeelugt, more than 4,000 residents, who were involved in subsistence farming, suffered significant losses to their produce and livestock during the May floods. The impact of the disaster prompted the government to set aside some $5.1 billion to respond to challenges facing the country’s sea defences.

Minister Indar had said that it was important for the government to ensure that breaches to those critical structures were remedied with urgency, especially since the cost to fix those breaches increased exponentially once the damages are left unattended.

“The entire sea defence on the shoreline is vulnerable, and there are spots that keep opening up as the high tides come in. So, you have to make sure you remedy it quick. A breach starts small but it will continue to open and open. And the longer you take to respond to that breach, the more expensive that repair will be… so that is why you have rapid response when you have breach to any shoreline,” Minister Indar related.

During an earlier visit to the construction site at Anna Catherina, the minister said that rip-raps are a very expensive but necessary solution for strengthening the country’s sea defences.

Rip-raps describe a range of rocky material being placed along shorelines, or at the foundation of bridges, steep slopes, and other shoreline structures to protect from scour and erosion.

He said that when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government assumed office in August 2020, the entire sea defence on the coast was vulnerable due to frequent high tides that continuously ‘bash’ the existing defences.

As a result of such challenges, the Dr. Ali-led government has set out to craft a comprehensive maintenance plan for the country’s sea defences.
“If something starts small and you allow it to open and open and open, the longer you take to respond to that breach is the more expensive the solution will be. That is why you got to make sure you have rapid response when you have breach to any shoreline and that is something we are cognisant of…that is why we continue to monitor it as we go along,” Indar said.

As it is, Guyana’s rip-rap sea defence is being established for a minimum performance period of 30 years, according to the government’s Department of Public Information.
“It’s an expensive venture and an elaborate rip-rap,” minister Indar emphasised.

Since the commencement of the West Coast Demerara projects, Indar and his team from the Ministry of Public Works have been constantly visiting the construction site to ensure that contractors are operating in accordance with their contractual agreements, especially given the many previous instances where contractors were being paid under the previous government for a host of incomplete and/or substandard works.

“…when taxpayers are spending their money, as representatives in government, we have to make sure that when we spend money, we see the reality of that spending on the ground,” Indar said.

The maintenance and protection of Guyana’s sea defences are most critical, given the fact that some 90 per cent of the country’s population reside along the coastland, an area that is below sea level, and highly susceptible to flooding.