Georgetown : The call to raise the sea defence, between Kitty and Liliendaal, in light of the recent overtopping, is not a practicable alternative; as such an undertaking is financially unsustainable, for what could be described as highly unusual event, Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn told the Government Information Agency.
Minister Benn said that the affected areas are only experiencing the overtopping for the reason that there is erosion of the foreshore along that section of the Rupert Craig Highway. The subsequent inundation of that highway and the flooding of the adjacent areas, he blamed on the inability of the water to run off the land, because of clogged drains, a direct result of the careless discarding of garbage during the usual seawall activities.
“The foreshore is being lowered there. There is an erosional front moving along there, say three kilometres, to make intervention at this point in time with respect to handling that situation will cost in excess of $1.5B. It is not the type of expenditure one envisions for a fairly highly unusual event for a fairly short section of the coast, and which you will have to repeat every time the erosional front moves,” he stated.
He also pointed out that the seawall itself remains intact, and is in no danger.
The coast of Guyana has been experiencing spring tide conditions of extreme waves, which started last Tuesday, and will end today.
On Sunday, at about 5:30hrs, 1.5 metres of waves riding on top of high tide of 3.11 metres overwhelmed the sea defence between Liliendaal and Vlissengen Road causing subsequent flooding of adjacent areas inclusive of Kitty, Subryanville, Bel Air Park and Liliendaal.
According to Minister Benn, the area experiencing this overtopping is where there is erosion. He said that the Russian Embassy marks the edge of the erosion; and that the foreshore is lower
“So the water comes over and does not get to the pumps quickly enough, both at the road side drain which is limited and through the conduits under the road. When it gets under the road, the secondary and tertiary drainage are blocked up with grass and garbage, so the water has not been getting to both the Kitty pump station and to the Liliendaal pump station through the Cummings canal to be pumped away…if you look out there over the period the basin at the Liliendaal pump station is very low, there is a lot of storage for the water, but the water is not getting there in sufficient time,” he said.
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