Georgetown : The Government disclosed that the mouth of the Demerara River has reached a stage where there is a need for a 24 hour a day dredging.
Government spokesman Dr. Roger Luncheon at his weekly post cabinet media briefing said “It was felt that dredging activities that are currently being done needed to be augmented to minimally, 24 hours dredging, which brought into sharp focus, the cost factor,”
He noted however, that it was clear that the routine dredging that is currently practiced in the river channel was insufficient to optimise the use of ocean-going ships of the port of Georgetown.
The need for dredging on a 24 hours a day basis has since seen efforts and initiatives at the level of Central Government and private investors. Dr. Luncheon said that the past successes of public-private partnership have paved the way for such a consideration in this dredging project.
“The overpowering need, the urgency was recognised by Cabinet and it would keep the dredging of Port Georgetown under continuous scrutiny during this time. The initiatives of the private sector would be explored to bring finality to the task of providing 24-hours a day dredging of the Demerara River,” he said.
Dredging is done in an effort to clear up clogs and keep the waterways navigable. The process involves the gathering of bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location.
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