No extensions to Region Six’s canal project – ministers warn contractors

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, and Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh met with the contractors who submitted expressions of interest for the construction of the drainage and irrigation canals which are expected to be constructed at Letter Kenny and Number 52 to 54 villages on the Corentyne Coast, in Region Six and form part of government’s national flood risk management plan.

A Ministry of Agriculture press release said that Mustapha told the contractors that the project was extremely important to Guyana’s disaster risk management and the government will under no circumstances be granting contractors extensions given the nature of the project. He further stated when the Hope Canal was built, there was a lot of criticism from the opposition but with the 2021 flood, when all the other regions of the country were affected, Georgetown, and the East Coast were spared because of that structure.

Singh, the release said, reiterated much of what Mustapha said, stressing that the project would not be extended past its contractual timeline. He said that the government expected the earthen work to be completed by the end of the year and that work will be awarded in blocks to ensure these are completed within the specified timeframe. Both ministers also told the contractors that it has been noted that contractors usually tender for work, and when awarded it, fail to execute the project because they lack the human resource and mechanical capacities.

On assuming office, the government had signalled its intention to construct replicas of the Hope Canal to bolster the agricultural sector and ensure enhanced coastal safety during the rainy and flood seasons. Similar structures will also be constructed in Regions Three and Five.