De-silting of the river channel alongside the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySuCo) largest berthing facility located at the Demerara Sugar Terminal (DST), Ruimveldt, Georgetown, has commenced as the company prepares to maximise on opportunities created as result of Guyana’s emerging oil and gas sector.
A release from GuySuCo noted that the multi- million-dollar venture, which commenced on Saturday last, is a collaborative initiative between the Marine Administrative Department (MARAD), the Ministry of Public Works and GuySuCo and is expected to be completed by May 14, 2021. The last time the channel was de-silted was in 2014.
The berthing facility is located along the Demerara River, East Bank Demerara. It was built with concrete and steel several decades ago and is used by ships transporting sugar for bulk storage at the Demerara Sugar Terminal to be sold on both the local and export markets.
Manager of the Demerara Sugar Terminal, Roger Bradshaw, explained that it has the potential to dock large vessels once the desilting process is complete.
In lauding the initiative to de-silt the river channel, Bradshaw noted that the de-silting exercise was much needed since the huge deposit of silt was affecting the operational efficiency at the Demerara Sugar Terminal resulting sometimes in increase operational cost to offload or load a vessel.
“During low tides we cease operations and wait until the water rises during high tide for us to complete our tasks whether it’s offloading or loading a vessel,” he said.
“Further, this exercise is integral to GuySuCo’s Strategic Plan to maximise the usage of all its facilities to become economically viable once again. In this light, GuySuCo intends to extend the services offered at the Demerara Sugar Terminal in wake of the increasing demand for such services by Guyana’s emerging Oil and Gas Sector,” the statement from the sugar corporation added.
On completion of the de-silting process, ships with maximum length of 400 meter and a draft of seven meters can berth at the DST facility and there will be significant increase in operational efficiency due to the reduced number of stoppages as a result of built up silt.
