$3B Hope Canal - $1B saved, $614M spent

$3B Hope Canal – $1B saved, $614M spent

Feb 13, 2011 News

… “productive use of money” – Jagdeo

The government could realise over a billion dollar in savings on Hope Canal. This was according to a statement by President Bharrat Jagdeo at a press conference on Friday last.
The project has had no shortage of press coverage over the past year with the Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, and the President constantly defending the many inconsistencies surrounding the project.
Calling the government spending on the project a ‘productive use of money’ President Jagdeo stressed the technical soundness of the project yet again in his press conference. Government officials have put a $3B price tag on the project which according to Minister Persaud is just an estimate.
The Minister pointed out in a press conference last month that this price tag is based on the scope of the works and the material requirements, as well as the studies undertaken by the consulting firms. He noted that the final price tag is actually dependent on the bidding process. The tenders submitted and chosen for the project works are what will determine the cost of the final project.
In a move to reduce that cost the Government sought to undertake the earthen works using its resources. This is where the billion dollars worth of savings are expected.
But with a billion dollars thus accounted for perhaps one should subtract another $614M from the total cost.
In an invited comment, yesterday afternoon, Minister Persaud readily revealed that this sum has already been spent on the project which ‘started’ last October. He said that a large proportion – some $400M – was spent to procure 14 long reach excavators. Another $100M was spent to compensate those families who were relocated as a result of the project.
The remaining funds were spent on the technical works namely the consultancy, the technical studies and the design. Site preparation which involves clearing and bulldozing access ways for men and machinery as well as the mobilisation of project resources were also included under this sum.
The Minister did not state definitively if excavation of the canal channel had begun as yet but he did state that the equipment is in place.
Earlier this year the works in the area between the Conservancy and the Crown Dam experienced ‘setbacks’ as inclement weather made working in the swampy area a dangerous undertaking.
On the issue of the other works, namely the head regulator at the conservancy, the public road bridge and the outfall sluice the Minister stated that the invitations to tender will be advertised this week.
During his January press conference the Minister had said that those advertisements would have been done on Sunday, January 23. He also noted that the civil works on the project will be open tendering.
The Hope Canal project has been in the making since the floods of January 2005 when the weaknesses of the East Demerara Water Conservancy were starkly outlined. It was the possibility of a collapse of the dam and the devastating impact that it would have on the coastlands that mobilised the Government to find a solution.
The canal is a 10.3km long channel that runs from the Conservancy through the Hope/Dochfour area where it will cut across the East Coast Public Road. It runs all the way to the coast where it will empty into the Atlantic over a High Weir Sluice Structure.

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$3B Hope Canal – $1B saved, $614M spent

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