NDIA pontoon was sent to clear outfall, not channel

Jun 27, 2019 News

To improve drainage for farmers on the Corentyne, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) has dispatched two of its excavators on a pontoon to clear the foreshore at Number 43 Village.

The pontoon moored to the sluice with the excavators

The outfall of the canal was cleared by an independent contractor. To clear the outfall, two excavators were dispatched on a pontoon which is taken out to the foreshore for the excavators to further clear the ends of the waterway.
The disclosures by the NDIA would come days after residents raised issues with the presence of two excavators on board of a pontoon.
The Corentyne residents around the Adventure channel and the Number 43 waterway, which drains Black Bush Polder, wondered who was collecting the cheque for the works, as a contractor had already been working to clear the channel.
This is necessary, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NDIA, Fredrick Flatts explains: “As we are aware, recently there was flooding at Yakusari, Black Bush Polder… that is the same drain that is used to discharge water from the Yakusari area. Because the flooding was fairly prolonged, the NDIA was not satisfied with the rate at which the water was being discharged from that area, and so to assist with the drainage, we dispatched that pontoon with two excavators to help improve the rate of drainage.”
Flatts further explained that while the outfall channel is inland and cleared, regardless of how deep it may be, if the foreshore is not as deep as the outfall, the drainage efforts will be stymied. The outfall channel for the canal is roughly one mile long and was cleared by way of contract. This channel ends at the beginning of the foreshore, which is where the damn for excavators to walk comes to an end.
“It’s from there the pontoon takes over and the pontoon with the machines will clear into the Atlantic Ocean as far as is necessary, normally about 1,000 feet,” Flatts continued. “When that is done, the rate of discharge of water from a sluice, as in this case, will improve by four times. So, we have improved the drainage in Black Bush Polder.”
Flatts stressed that the excavator and pontoons are not there to clear the channel, as that job was already contracted out; however, the machines are there to clear the foreshore.
“The point I am making is that the pontoon with excavators is not clearing the section which was recently cleaned by a contractor.”
In a few days, this operation will be repeated in the Number 51 and 52 outfall channels. The pontoon with the two machines is being moored inland at the end of the workday as a safety precaution to avoid them being lost at sea.

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