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Public Works Ministry strengthens sea and river defences
The Craig Revetment during one of its many breaches last year – this is one of the sites repaired in expectation of the rainy season.
As the rainy season approaches the Ministry of Public Works has taken thought for the welfare of residents in low lying and riverain areas.
In recent days the Ministry has issued an advisory to the public on flooding that may be caused both by spring tides and the May-June rains.
According to the Ministry’s advisory, higher than usual spring tides have been expected over the last few days and residents in areas prone to overtopping have been urged to take the necessary precautions against flooding. However there have been little or no reports of flooding due to the spring tides in the last week, a case which could be attributed to works done by the Ministry in recent months.
The second part of the advisory concerns the May-June rains which have already begun making their way to the coastlands from the central regions of the continent. The recent flooding in Region Nine and Brazil has been attributed to the onset of this rainy season. As a result of the heavy rains, the watersheds in these areas have swollen and now the excess waters are beginning to make their way down from highlands to the low-lying communities.
As such, the Ministry has warned that the influx of these waters, when coupled with additional rains, may lead to increased water levels in the rivers. The advisory stated that it is “necessary for persons living along the banks of rivers to take all the necessary precautions against flooding.”
The Ministry itself has done just that. According to Geoffrey Vaughn, Chief River and Sea Defence Officer, there are a number of projects that have been completed to prevent flooding. Extensive works have been done on the East Bank of Demerara where some of the residences practically sit on the river. At Craig, the constantly collapsing revetment is no more, since the Ministry’s works to restore the shaky infrastructure in that area are complete. At Farm, Herstelling and Little Diamond, the embankment has been raised along the riverside.
Works have also been undertaken in Wakenaam, Leguan and along the East Bank of the Berbice River on communities such as Glasgow and Sisters Village.
In recent days, the state of the EU-funded sea defence projects have also come under scrutiny for delays, but in a recent article, Vaughn noted that these delays were as a result of heavy rainfall and design changes for certain sites.
The aim of the project is to construct 1.6 kilometres and rehabilitate and maintain 18 kilometres of sea defence structures across the coastline. The project has been divided into two lots.
In lot one, works are 93 percent complete with the construction of rip-rap design at No. 78 Village, Corentyne, and construction of 1.2 kilometres of rip-rap design at Clonbrook, East Coast Demerara.
Lot two entails the rehabilitation and maintenance of 31 existing sea defence sites from Regions Two to Six.
Rehabilitation works have been completed in some areas including Greenwich Park where approximately 100 metres of rip-rap construction was executed. The contractor also completed groyne works at Suddie, Region Two. Meanwhile, rehabilitation works at Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo, are 40 percent complete with the contractor executing earthen works and casting cement slabs.
The project which began in September 2009 comes under the Ninth European Development Fund (9th EDF). It has three components – the physical works, technical assistance and supply of material – and costs 18M Euros.
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