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Hydrologist clears the air over conservancy comments

Nov 01, 2010 News

Respected engineer and university lecturer, Maurice Veecock, came under fire from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority last weekend when Corporate Secretary of the entity, Omadatt Chandan, penned yet another ‘response letter’ to critics of the Agency’s work.
In the letter, Chandan writes that “the Ministry of Agriculture’s NDIA has taken issue with the comments of Mr. Veecock since his assumptions are inaccurate.” The letter also says, “The Authority also wishes to encourage persons to make constructive criticism with regards to government investments rather than grasping at cheap publicity.”
Of note is the fact that Mr. Veecock never requested coverage of his lecture, and never approached the press to give a comment on the matter. What Mr. Veecock did do was air his professional opinion at a lecture which was open to the public. However, in the wake of Chandan’s letter, Mr. Veecock has responded to a request for a comment on the statements made therein.
Mr. Veecock, who is an expert in his field of hydraulics, drainage and irrigation, said on the matter, “I apologise that my comments were misconstrued and in fact I am very pleased at the work that the NDIA has been doing around the country.”
Chandan’s arguments which are based on “the last few years”, by his own admission, do not account for all the years before the floods of 2005. Yet most experts point out that the long list of remedial works reeled off by Mr. Chandan would not have been so expensive nor extensive had the Conservancy been receiving the required maintenance over the years.
Mr. Veecock’s statements were delivered as a general expression of the well-known fact that if an engineered structure is not adequately maintained on schedule then that structure may fail before the lifetime it was designed for.
The article also went on to highlight the need for an improvement in maintenance practices in several areas such as roads, bridges and sea defences, is supported by the expert opinion of former Chief Works and Hydraulics Officer, Phillip Allsopp.

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