THANKS FOR THE OFFER, TIANA!

Jan 08, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Peeping Tom is grateful for the correction by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) that there were two pumps whose procurement and installation cost in excess of eighty million dollars.

I am also thankful for the offer to peruse the documents related to the purchase of these pumps which were stationed at Hope and Greenfield since January of last year, and which were not sufficient to prevent flooding in those areas over the holiday period.

I look forward to Tiana Khan, the Corporate Secretary of the NDIA sending copies of the relevant documents to the Editor-In-Chief of this newspaper so that I can examine them.
While Tiana is at it, I would like to also request that I be provided with information as to whether this procurement was by selective tendering or by open tender.

If it were the former, I would be grateful to know how Moving Water Industries (MWI) Corporation of Florida was chosen for the contract. I would also wish to receive information on the recently purchased pump which we are told cost $30M. It is of public interest that we be told of the diameter of the discharge pipe and the horsepower of the engine that powers the pump.

Once again I express my appreciation for the correction that there were two pumps that were purchased and not one. I hope that the relevant documents would be sent to the Kaieteur News.

I will bypass on the offer to tour the pump sites. I have been to the sites already. In fact, just one day prior to the President of Guyana touring the Liliendaal Pumping Station run by the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown, the Peeper was on location examining the discharge. I was impressed that both of the main pumps were working to full capacity. I saw no problems.

I was therefore taken aback by the announcement that the government intended to take over the management of the pumps. I do not know the reasons for this decision but it certainly could not be related to their functioning at the time since as I indicated they were working at full capacity.

I have no objection to the government taking over the management of the pumps. I believe this will ease the city of the burden of the managerial and financial responsibility involved in keeping the pumps working. But there is no way, I believe, that a case can be made out that the Liliendaal pumps needed to be taken over because they were not working properly. This is not held out by my own observations.

I was therefore extremely disappointed, but not surprised, when the state-owned media published a photograph showing weathering on the external surface of the pump, nothing that a good scraping and a coat of paint cannot remedy. This approach by the State-owned media is not helpful to developing a national approach to the crisis we now face, as regards drainage.

All hands are needed on deck and the citizens of Guyana will have to also be prepared to pay more rates and taxes so that their councils and municipalities can become more viable.

I am pleased that the President has decided that he can no longer wait on international financing for the proposed outlet to the Atlantic that will drain the conservancy towards its northern extremity. It will cost a fortune to construct but it must be done now because each year billions are lost because of accumulation on the land. I am glad that the President has decided that some things will have to be deferred so as to give priority to this project.

There is one other thing I wish, however, that he would defer permanently. Advertisements have appeared in the media advertising three blocks of land at Liliendaal. These lands were in the past used for experimental purposes. Later, it was said that the land was set aside for a diplomatic complex.

The PPP government now wishes to sell these strategically located lands. I urge the President to halt the sale. Drainage is now the priority and these lands are extremely useful to aid in the drainage of Greater Georgetown.

It will cost billions of dollars to dredge the canals of the city so as to increase their holding capacity. In the interim what the Council needs is large tracts of land to be used as holding ponds for water which can then be let out when the tide is out thus preventing flooding.

The lands which the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) has identified for sale are ideally located to help in this effort and I urge all Guyanese to call on the government to use these lands to aid in drainage rather than put it in the hands of someone who probably already has more money than he or she can use in their lifetime.
These are public lands, and use of these lands for the safety of the public should be the top priority.

I know that the President will give consideration to this suggestion. I also advise him to give consideration to the proposals made by the Citizens Initiative which is proposing that consideration be given to locating one of the conservancy outfalls to the Atlantic in Nabaclis. It should be considered.

I am not in favour of another outfall to the Demerara River. The conservancy is too long for any additional outfall to the river allowing for any serious reduction at the Northern extremities. Only outfalls to the Atlantic can reduce the levels at this end.

We must all cooperate to ensure that we fix the drainage system in our country. There are many well-intentioned Guyanese who are willing to help. They should be allowed to do so, even if it only means listening to their suggestions.

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