Designs for massive drainage canals to be completed by Feb 2024 – Mustapha

…billions to be invested in D&I across Guyana

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha has revealed that the start of works on the replica Hope canals may be just around the corner, as the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is hoping to complete the designs by February 2024.
During Tuesday’s sitting of the National Assembly, the Agriculture Minister responded to questions on the $6.2 billion supplementary funds that were sought by, and subsequently granted to, his Ministry. The Minister detailed some of the capital works that will be funded from the $5.3 billion being requested for the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).

Included in this sum is money for a consultant to design replicas of the Hope Canal, a major climate mitigation initiative that has been credited with helping to protect the East Coast from floods in recent years. This project is being replicated in other regions, and according to Mustapha, the designs are expected to be completed by February 2024.
“We’re doing studies now to do the designs for the Hope-like canals that we want to do. We’re doing a number of those canals in Regions Five and Six. The designs are being done, and we’ve allocated $6.4 million to do that design. And by the end of this year, hopefully by February, we’ll get the entire design done, and works will commence to do those Hope-like canals like we did at Hope there,” Mustapha said.Mention was made of the Government’s intervention in Pomeroon following visits by the minister and President Dr Irfaan Ali, when the residents’ concerns were heard. A sum of $794 million will be spent in that area, according to Mustapha.
“What we have also done, we’ve advertised and we have worked, a number of critical works in the Pomeroon. We want to ensure that Pomeroon becomes a productive area again. Places like Friendship, Marlborough, Martindale, Hackney, Strong Hope, Abrams Creek and a number of areas.
“What we are doing there, the President and I went there and we looked…people are normally flooded there, we are now lifting the beds to 1.5 metres, so that the floods they suffered over the years will be avoided,” he explained.
When it comes to canals, the Minister further explained that Government will be spending billions to rehabilitate a number of canals across the country, to better help with drainage and irrigation.
“What we are also doing across the country, there are a number of canals that need rehabilitation. Places like Friendship, Den Amstel, Craig, Belladrum, Plaisance, Profit, New Amsterdam, Manchester, Bonasika…a number of places where we’ll be doing rehabilitation at a cost of $2.5 billion,” Minister Mustapha explained.
The Hope Canal, or Northern Relief Channel, which is located at Hope/Dochfour, East Coast Demerara, is a multi-component channel that allows excess water from the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) to be drained into the Atlantic Ocean via an eight-door sluice, so as to avoid overflowing and possible flooding.
That canal, which cost some $3.6 billion, was conceptualized under the then Bharrat Jagdeo-led PPP Government, and was constructed following the 2005 floods. At the time, excessive rainfall compounded by a breach in the embankment had resulted in Regions Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Five (Mahaica-Berbice) experiencing massive flooding, causing significant damage to agricultural and residential areas. After several delays, the Hope Canal project became operational in 2016. Noting its climate mitigation benefits, the Government wants the project replicated in other regions.
As far back as 2021, President Ali had said the Hope Canal was instrumental in preventing massive flooding along the East Coast of Demerara during the unprecedented May-June floods, and he had announced that similar infrastructure would be constructed in other regions to curb devastating floods. These include Regions Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). (G3)