Developing integrated river transportation network on agenda – VP

…Govt aware of riverine transportation woes – Finance Minister assures

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is cognisant of the need for attention to be paid to the development of Guyana’s riverine transportation system, with a view of dredging and deepening river channels so that more barges can traverse.

At least two highly placed Government officials have, over the past week, had to respond to questions during the Guyana Energy Conference and Expo about the Government’s plans for riverine transportation.
When asked, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo explained that the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) speaks to an integrated water management strategy that includes improving the riverine transportation system.
“When I say integrated water management strategy, as part of the LCDS, it’s water, portable water, water for agriculture, water for navigational purposes, it’s water for fisheries purposes. That is the approach here. So integrated water management is not just for flood control, but it’s for water for all the purposes, including economic purposes.”
“Clearly that is important for us. How we navigate our rivers, use them for transport, and a whole range of other things. And the maritime economy, it includes mangroves and the riverine communities, not the blue economy alone where you look at the sea,” Jagdeo explained.
Meanwhile, Senior Minister in the Office of the Presidency, with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh also responded to a question from an attendee at the conference regarding the deepening rivers to aid in the passage of larger vessels.
It was pointed out that there are limitations when transporting sand from the upper Demerara mining areas on the barges, due to the depth of the river. The question was thus posed to the Finance Minister whether there are any plans to deepen the draft of the river.
The Finance Minister acknowledged the need for Guyana to accelerate the development of its transport network, in order to keep pace with Guyana’s economic development. And similar to the way the Government is moving to develop roads and bridges, the waterways are also in need of more infrastructural work.
“Historically, the depth of the river has been a constraint. The Demerara River in particular, has constraints in terms of the depth of its draft, both at the major port facilities at the mouth of the river and further down the river. We recognise this impediment; I couldn’t agree more that the question of dredging our key riverine areas is certainly foremost in our minds.”
“With the development of more port facilities at the mouth of the Demerara River, it’s going to be unavoidable that more is going to have to be done on dredging the mouth of the river further down and this is also a question that will have to be confronted with our other major rivers,” Dr Singh said.
Making reference to joint venture partners CGX Energy Inc and Frontera Energy’s plans to construct a deep-water port facility in Berbice, the Finance Minister noted that this project will have implications for the overall need to improve river transportation.
“Eventually the mouth of the Berbice River will also be home to deep water harbour facilities, which will also have implications for dredging of the rivers. So, it’s very much on the radar, I suppose the question is to find a sustainable model to ensure the rivers remain well dredged to promote competitive access to the port facility.”
CGX’s subsidiary, Grand Canal Industrial Estates Inc (GCIE), has been engaged in civil works related to the construction of the port, which intends to serve as an offshore supply base for the oil and gas industry, and as a multi-purpose terminal cargo handling base to service agricultural import/export, containerised and specialised cargo.