” says EU

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The European Union (EU) has announced that it is working with the administration to find solutions for the overtopping along coastal seawalls, as worry grows over the increasing incidences.According to the EU yesterday, it has mandated an expert to assess the overtopping of the sea defences along the Rupert Craig Highway and to make concrete recommendations to the Ministry of Public Works to mitigate future occurrences.“The expert is expected to provide his final report and recommendations to the EU and the Ministry of Public Works by the end of June,” says EU, a major donor to Guyana.A worried EU has released an expert to help Guyana deal with the seawall overtopping.The union, which has a diplomatic presence in Guyana, made it clear that, like the entire Guyanese population, it is gravely concerned at the recent record overtopping of the sea defences that resulted in flooding to parts of the coastland and various wards of the City of Georgetown.“In swift reaction, the EU Delegation in Guyana has requested the extension of a technical mission of a coastal engineering design expert from Consultancy with Engineering, Environmental Science and Economics (COWI) who is currently engaged in similarly related works to assess the possible solutions to this emergency.”In recent years, overtopping caused by spring tides saw especially the northern carriageway of the East Coast Demerara highway flooded. Ocean View Hotel which is located at Liliendaal, has literally been under siege.Government over the weekend banned the traditional Sunday seawall lime between Vlissengen Road and Ocean View Hotel as complaints grew over the stability of sections of the embankment wall.This was following one of the worse incidences of overtopping in recent times which last week forced the closure of the highway between Vlissengen Road and Sheriff Street to facilitate a cleanup.Government has since said it will move the Sunday crowd west of Vlissengen Road.EU yesterday disclosed that it has been providing the Government of Guyana with technical expertise in the sector of coastal and marine structures and construction.The body, said the expert, recently assessed the quality and extent of the support provided by the EU in the recent reconstruction of sea defences at various sites along the coast. This was done under the current phase of EU assistance worth EUR 17M. The work by the expert was to advise the Government of Guyana in further development of its Sea Defence Strategy, which the EU is preparing to support by contributing up to EUR 15M over the next three years.“The Head of Delegation of the EU in Guyana, Ambassador Robert Kopecký is hopeful that the consultant, together with the technical team from the Ministry of Public Works will formulate an effective strategy to address the issue.”Ambassador Kopecký also heaped praise on Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn and his team who responded efficiently and ensured that the flooding was brought under control as the high tides continued to overtop the sea defences.Guyana’s coastal belt is below sea level but is protected by protective seawall barriers built since the Dutch occupation.There have been warnings that the sea is rising and Guyana’s lowly coastlands could come under threat. It will take at least US$1B to construct works that will provide some level of acceptable protection, government has said.In the meantime, the administration has been repairing sections of critical areas it considered to be the most vulnerable.