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Government revisits Hope Canal consultancy contract – Persaud

Jul 11, 2009 News

Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud has confirmed that he has been in receipt of several periodic preliminary reports from the consultancy contract as it relates to the construction of the East Demerara Water Conservancy Relief Canal, popularly known as the Hope Canal.
According to Persaud, he was awaiting another report to give an update as to the status of the technical work being conducted as well as recommendations aimed at plotting a chart forward.
He said that it was because of the nature of the contract that reports are being submitted at various stages and the report changes periodically, given the continued investigation.
The Agriculture Minister added also that the contract for the technical work for the feasibility and utility of the northern relief in the identified area, will have to be extended, given that the surveys still to be done in some areas will not be completed within the stipulated time frame.
“Some of the data they need require a longer period in terms of collection and modeling.”
In the 2009 budget, $2B was allocated for the project, which will facilitate an alternative discharge outlet for the East Demerara Water Conservancy.
Technical assessment of the EDWC and its flow system by both local and international experts, indicated that the conservancy requires an additional outlet in order to improve its safety standards in responding to extreme storm events.
Hydraulic modeling of the EDWC was carried out in 2004 under the Hydrology and Water Resources study for Guyana D&I Rehabilitation Project and further updated in 2005 by the TFIR, which provides analytical output from which recommendations were derived in improving the flow and discharge system.
The Final report of the TFIR, 2005, prepared by experts from Mott MacDonald, local engineers with input for Engineers out of Holland, recommends that a new outlet be constructed, probably the size of the Land of Canaan sluice.
During his budget presentation, Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, said that rainfall patterns and water level recordings have indicated that rainfall water accumulation along the North/East section of the conservancy takes a much longer period to discharge through the eastern relief structures, thus the need for a new outlet to the Atlantic.
As such, he had said, a decision was taken to construct a new outlet at Hope/Doch Four.
Implementation of the project requires technical studies and assessment, he said, in developing the most suitable structural design and operation procedures for the outlet.
Earlier this year, President Bharrat Jagdeo had said that the project is massive and requires greater engineering capability than Guyana possesses. The Head of State clearly stated that he wanted the project to be done by a ‘good international engineering firm.’
The Conservancy Relief Canal will be a minimum of 80 feet wide. Preliminary works have been carried out with the identification of a 300-foot wide reserve for the project.
This canal will be east of where the school is at Hope.
The new structure will not go where the Hope outfall is; it will be a separate formation.
This structure is expected to bring relief to residents of the Mahaica and Mahaicony communities that are under flood threat each time the water level in EDWC goes up to a critical point.

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