Over $163M drainage works to commence in Georgetown
The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) recently announced that a series of manual and mechanical drainage works within the capital city are expected to commence within the next few weeks.
A stretch of the channel which has been excavated up-to-date
The project is expected to cost $163 million and will increase drainage capacity and significantly reduce flooding throughout the capital city of Georgetown.
Three high capacity mobile drainage pumps will also be installed at Church Street, Sussex Street, and Ruimveldt to assist in reducing the occurrence of flooding.
The NDIA officials have stated that the contracts have been approved for the cleaning of the city’s drainage channels, with manual cleaning operations totalling $71.9 million and mechanical cleaning operations totalling $91.6 million.
These works will be executed on the primary drainage systems in Georgetown during this year.
The NDIA will be collaborating with the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to carry out the rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of the city’s primary drainage system as this was quoted by the Agriculture Minister.
Drainage works being done on the La Penitence drainage channel
“In 2019, NDIA will be responsible for 93,421 metres of main drainage canals in Georgetown, including the Downer/Liliendaal Pump Station Drain, South Road, and Ruimveldt North and South among others. An allocation of GY$274 million will be spent on Georgetown drainage for 2019,” Agriculture Minister Noel Holder said.
NDIA’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Dave Hicks, said the Authority will also be involved in rehabilitating drainage channels in Georgetown. Hicks further noted that even as major works are expected to commence shortly, squatting activities continue to obstruct works of that nature in areas such as La Penitence.
“We will also be using our equipment to rehabilitate the La Penitence South channel which is 5600 metres long. These works will be broken up into eight sections since the pontoon has to be demobilised and re-launched around bridges, main access roads and intersections… The NDIA was able to fabricate a mud bin on the pontoon and mount an excavator to carry out excavation works on the La Penitence South drainage channel,” Hicks said.
Maintenance works will be carried out on other pumps in the capital city, which includes the seven mobile pumps and two fixed drainage pumps at Kitty and Liliendaal.
The decision to have NDIA commence drainage works in Georgetown followed the recommendations of a Cabinet Sub-committee meeting which was chaired by the Agriculture Minister and also included Ministers of Public Infrastructure and Communities respectively.
