Work on the undermining sea defence is currently underway at Mosquito Hall/Lancaster, Mahaica and is 80 per cent complete.
Staff from the Public Works Ministry’s Force Account Unit are scheduled to seal the remaining section by this afternoon (Thursday).
The ministry in a release said the contractor – M&B Construction – hired to rehabilitate a section of the earthen embankment and slope has begun stockpiling materials [rocks and clay] to begin capping the undermined area. It is expected that within another two weeks, work in that area will be completed.
According to the ministry, as was reported previously, two major contracts involving the rehabilitation of concrete river defences at Mosquito Hall/Lancaster were executed during the period 2011 to 2012. These works addressed problematic sections of sea defences which were undermined and frequently overtopped during spring tides.
The Force Account Unit team members sealing a section of the sea defence with gabion rocks
In addition to concrete works, a total of 700 metres of eroded earthen embankment was rehabilitated and adjacent façade drains constructed for the storage and conveyance of overtopping discharge in order to reinforce the flood defence system.
Meanwhile, a team of officials from A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) led by shadow public works minister Joseph Harmon on Monday visited area.
The APNU team was there at the request of concerned residents, to inspect the crumbling sea defences in the area, the party said in a statement.
After viewing the gaping holes and the crumbling sea wall, Harmon said that what he had witnessed was the result of systemic neglect, and a lack of a structured national plan to deal with the nation’s sea and river defences.
Livelihood threatened
The Member of Parliament opined that because of this neglect, the lives of the residents of Mosquito Hall were now in jeopardy and residents, most of whom are fisherfolk, are now threatened by the very sea from which they earn their living.
Harmon said in his 2013 budget presentation, he had warned that the Gy$1.9 billion allocated for sea and river defences and the Gy$143.4 million to deal with critical works were not enough.
Harmon was accompanied on his visit to the Mosquito Hall sea defences by APNU Region Four councillors Shondel Hope and Ramrattie Jagdeo, and Ronald Backer from the Office of the Opposition Leader.
