Latest update June 4th, 2026 12:30 AM
Hope Canal still presents major issues to adjacent community
By Nicholas Peters
Residents and farmers of Dochfour, East Coast Demerara, continue to face major issues which they insist are as a result of the $3.6B Hope Canal Project.
Dochfour residents crossing the Hope Canal by boat.
As government agencies continue to conduct tests on the super structure, residents in the area say that they are yet to see the benefits of the canal. According to them, the canal has actually caused an inconvenience on their livelihoods, and they have not been afforded any consultation with relevant authorities to address their concerns.
The billion-dollar project had started in October of 2010 under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration. Major flooding in 2005 was the catalyst for the initiative.
Hope Canal was primarily conceived as a “long term solution” to the threat of flooding along the coastland. However, according to Roy Doodnauth, a resident farmer in Dochfour, the canal has been responsible for flooding in the area since it has obstructed traditional drainage and irrigation routes.
“Every time rain falls it floods and every time the sun hot it’s dry,” related Doodnauth. He said that last year he lost three of his crops, twice as a result of flooding and once as a result of dry weather.
Even though alternative irrigation channels were made to facilitate residents and farmers, Doodnauth explained that it was not done properly. He said that when the government did dig a canal along the super structure for residents, it resulted in a “bottleneck” channel.
This, according to Doodnauth, is not enough to have the necessary amount of water to flow freely and be irrigated properly for the surrounding land.
The long lasting effects, he said, were that the water could not be drained off in a timely manner to prevent flooding in the rainy season. Likewise, during the dry season there is no regulatory structure to provide sufficient water flow to sustain crops.
“They should’ve planned it (the channel) out properly before work on the Hope Canal started,” said Doodnauth.
Moreover, due to the lack of planning with regard to the current drainage system, the Dochfour resident added that there was no way that the channel could be fixed without negatively impacting people’s livelihoods.
As a result, the farmer related that people in the area don’t plant the lands like they used to.
Another problem residents in the area raised had to do with transportation. Since the construction of the canal, residents on either side of its banks have incurred expenses that they are not used to.
“Now look how it inconveniences people. It’s either you come here with a boat… only a couple people have boats and that’s not open up to everybody because that’s their private property,” the frustrated Doodnauth related.
Doodnauth explained that many children residing on either side of the bank have resorted to taking taxis to school, since the canal has prevented them from their old walking routes. It is an expense that many cannot afford as their livelihoods depend on farming, which the canal has disrupted.
“If you can’t afford it with $500 then you just have to stay over there,” shared the resident. He continued to say that a simple solution to this particular grievance would be for the government to construct a bridge.
“And not (necessarily) a bridge for people to drive over, just one so we can walk over,” said Doodnauth.
He said that in the past people were afraid to highlight these issues, as they would receive threats from people in the area for speaking out against the government of the time – he being one of the recipients of those threats.
While he and other residents have had talks with the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority about the farming system, they hope that the state of the village is one that is addressed by the new administration.
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