Georgetown: Residents of Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) can breathe a sigh of relief, as the elevation of the sea defence nears completion.
Works are currently ongoing at Anna Catherina, Zeelugt and Uitvlugt to elevate and strengthen the rip-rap sea defence to guard against overtopping.
The contracts totaling some $620 million were awarded following the recent flood in the areas which were caused by torrential rainfall, overtopping and breaches of the sea defence.
The more than $459 million sea defence contracts at Uitvlugt and Anna Catherina, were awarded to Puran Brothers Disposal Incorporated, while the $159, 899, 600 contract at Zeelugt, has been awarded to Platinum Investments Incorporated.
Works at Anna Catherina are 98 per cent complete, while the Uitvlugt and Zeelugt projects are 50 per cent and 20 per cent complete respectively.
“The sea defence is critical to making sure that the severity of floods that we had and future floods, the sea defence is critical to that. So, this particular area here, [Anna Catherina] actually all the houses were flooded out… This rip-rap here is a very expensive solution for sea defence, but as you can see there is no mangrove here and the sea just continues hitting the wall and causing flood. So, this work is almost complete and we’re happy with the work that was completed here,” the Minister said.
The Government will continue to strengthen the country’s sea defence, to prevent overtopping.
He noted that the entire sea defence on the coast is vulnerable due to frequent high tide bashing the defence. As such, he said it is important to have a proper maintenance plan.
“If something starts small and you allow it to open and open and open, the longer you take to respond to that breach is the more expensive the solution will be. That is why you got to make sure you have rapid response when you have breach to any shoreline and that is something we are cognisant of the fact, that is why we continue to monitor it as we go along.” The rip-rap sea defence is being established for a minimum performance period of 30 years.
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