Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 10, 2014 News
The much delayed $3.6B Hope/ Dochfour Canal project has a new deadline. The new date of completion is June.
Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, has insisted that the project will not go beyond its original cost.
According to the 2014 National Budget Estimates, the government has allocated $4.420B to complete the alternative outlet for the regulation of the East Demerara Water Conservancy, along with acquiring eight of the 14 fixed pumps from India, conduct training and gain technical support for the drainage and irrigation sector.
Some $3.245B has already been spent, with the government allocating an additional sum of $878.464M for this year.
Just one day after Dr. Ramsammy confirmed that all of the 14 pumps from India had arrived in Guyana, Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon refuted this, stating that some were to arrive last December. The pumps, eight of which have been budgeted for this year, were procured at the cost of US$4M. They are being sourced from Surendra Engineering out of India through a line of credit.
Meanwhile, as the Agriculture Ministry gears up to have the Northern Relief Channel project become operational by June, one of the three major components has been completed.
The $349M Hope Bridge, which was being constructed by DIPCON Engineering, was recently commissioned by President, Donald Ramotar. The overhead structure stands parallel to the East Coast Demerara Public Road and is open to traffic.
Construction of the Hope/Dochfour Northern Relief Channel was undertaken by former Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, who estimated an 18-month completion period, when construction commenced in February 2011.
Late last year Dr. Ramsammy, in his capacity as Agriculture Minister, announced an extended completion date – June 2013. This was subsequently extended to August 31, and later to December 2013.
One of the largest infrastructure initiatives in Guyana’s history, overall works on the Hope/Dochfour Canal is said to be dependent on the completion of the eight-gated sluice, the Courtney Benn aspect of the project.
Dr. Ramsammy stressed that this entity is responsible for the entire project being behind schedule, since each component is dependent on the other. The other major structure is the three-gated Head Regulator- the component assigned to BK International.
In another effort to meet the new date of operation, the Agriculture Ministry had undertaken the task of manufacturing the eight steel doors for the outfall.
It has been purported that the relief channel would have the capacity to withstand floods greater than that which occurred in 2005.
It is being constructed to ease the pressure of water on the East Demerara Water Conservancy at times when it reaches its maximum capacity, releasing it into the Atlantic Ocean, via the Sluice.
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