Georgetown: The World Bank and the Government of Guyana are presently executing the Flood Risk Management Project (FRMP) under the Agriculture Sector Development Unit, Ministry of Agriculture. The Flood Risk Management Project (FRMP) emanated from the pre-feasibility studies done under the Conservancy Adaptation Project and will see Three (3) new Pump Stations being constructed at Buxton/Friendship, Lusignan and Hope/Enmore areas on the East Coast of Demerara as well as rehabilitate sections of the East Demerara Water Conservancy dams.
The objective of the US$11.89M project which is mainly to reduce the risk of flooding in low-lying areas of the East Demerara region will be executed over a 41/ 2year period.
Today, Hon. Noel Holder, Minister of Agriculture accompanied by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Mr. George Jervis and FRMP’s Project Coordinator Mr. Dhaneshwar James met with stakeholders’ of the Project Coordination Committee to highlight the way forward for the project with respect to strategies to be put in place to address and improve the flood-defence system to cope with extreme rainfall in Guyana.
The project according to the Agriculture Minister is being undertaken in an effort to assist the population, since approximately 90 percent of the population resides on the coast which is already below sea level.
“The East Demerara region is highly vulnerable to the vast effects of Climate Change and is expected to run for duration of four and a half years…the objective of the project is mainly to reduce the risk of flooding in low-lying areas of the East Demerara Region” the Minister said.
Permanent Secretary, Mr. George Jervis made reference to the need for such a committee and indicated that it has been working in all donor financed project and he has all intentions for it to work under this project. He reiterated that the Project Coordination Committee’s role is not only to come to the meeting but also to monitor the works being done on the ground by the contractors and consultants and report back to the Ministry of Agriculture. Mr. Jervis also mentioned that the Cunha Canal Rehabilitation Project (CCRP), very similar to the FRMP project was approved by the World Bank and the GRIF Secretariat and will be ready for implementation shortly.
Project Coordinator,Mr. Dhaneshwar James will be leading the Project Coordination Committee which was established to assist the project by providing the necessary advice and guidance on issues, assist with the resolving strategic level issues and risks and to use their influence and authority to assist the project in achieving its goals and a positive outcome.
Since the 2005 flood, the Government of Guyana has been working in conjunction with the World Bank, international organizations and other donor agencies to further develop a comprehensive flood risk reduction strategy.
Top priority has been given to strengthen the East Demerara Water conservancy (EDWC) system. Through the Flood Risk Management project more than 300,000 citizens in flood prone regions of the East Demerara will benefit tremendously from reduced flooding and climate risk as a result of funds with over US $11 million from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group.
As the Flood Risk Management project rolls on it seeks to upgrade the critical sections of the East Demerara Water Conservancy dams and canals, significantly improve the drainage capacity in priority areas along the East Coast of Demerara and increase the institutional capacity by implementation of dam safety measures and practices including the installation of instruments to monitor the hydro-meteorological data. The project also caters for the acquisition of heavy equipment to facilitate the upgrading and increased pumping capacity of the critical drainage areas.
The Project Coordination Committee was appointed by Cabinet.
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