Desilting of Friendship Canal may cost $1 billion- Minister Ferguson.

Desilting of Friendship Canal may cost $1 billion— Minister Ferguson.

Jun 06, 2019 News

“The silted Canal at Friendship.”

For years, the clogged up Friendship canal has been a major challenge to the residents living within the Friendship area, in the Lower Pomeroon.
Being a riverine community, creeks, canals and the Pomeroon River itself have been the main medium of transportation for residents. One can imagine that a clogged canal or creek, will automatically result in severe difficulties for residents.
Based on reports reaching this publication, the Friendship canal, which was last cleaned some ten years ago, was never desilted despite numerous promises.
During a recent ministerial outreach to Charity, Essequibo Coast, the issue was raised by residents with the Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Annette Ferguson. A counselor who is a part of the Regional Democratic Council [RDC] said that the desilting of the canal was once a part of the region’s budget, but for some reason was removed.
“When the President was at Friendship he promised that those canals will be desilted. I made sure that in the 2017 budget the desilting was in. I was told, however, that it was struck off. There is a dying need for the canals to be desilted.”
In response to the councilor’s concern, Minister Ferguson said that the desilting will require an integrated approach in excess of some $1 billion.
She said, “The desilting we are aware of is the situation in Friendship. It was raised with (Minister Noel) Holder. When the budget was done to desilt the canal would’ve caused the government $1 billion. A decision was taken to have it taken in phases. Minister Holder was trying his best to see how that can be addressed in 2019.”

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