South Quay pumps a success, says Sinanan

If you noticed there was no flooding at South Quay, City Gate and the surrounding streets during the persistent rain on Wednesday, it’s because the Ministry of Works fixed the problem.

An experimental pumping station installed as a project by the ministry proved ta success, said Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan, while overseeing the pump in action at South Quay on Wednesday.

Sinanan said engineers at the ministry built a sump, a space which collects undesirable fluids, like floodwater, and used two pumps to push that water out to sea.

The result – no more flooding in South Quay and environs, no more being stranded in City Gate because of the rain, and yes, no more drain water in your shoes.

The two pumps were said to have a capacity to pump close to 20,000 gallons of water a minute, and the station was outfitted with an automatic switch and a sensor. This sensor will detect when water is getting to a certain level in the sump and turn the pumps on. When the water recedes, the pumps will switch off automatically.

Sinanan said the pumping station came out of a study done between 2013 and 2015, though that did not lead to funding to alleviate the flooding problems. The ministry then decided to do a pilot project using the sumps and pumps.

“We couldn’t just waste time doing studies,” Sinanan said, “We had to do something.

"Since we started the project and completed the gates, we actually only had one occasion where South Quay flooded. Now that we have the pumps installed the project seems to be a successful one.”

Sinanan said the pumps were installed about a month ago, and about a week ago, the ministry began testing them.

The pumping station draws water from drains in Frederick Street, Charlotte Street and Henry Street and diverting it out to sea. Sinanan said he hopes to expand the project to take water out more downtown drains.

He explained once pipes from the pumping station are extended across the small bay near South Quay, they would be able to remove water from more streets, and alleviate flooding problems on Lady Young Avenue, PoS, and several other places.

“We should be able to get about seven drains coming into it. That should pull the majority of water out of PoS.”

But this is not a permanent solution, Sinanan said.

He said government is working with CAF (Development Bank of Latin America) to take the various studies like the South Oropouche study, the Oropouche basin study and the Nariva study, and create a work plan with short-, medium- and long-term goals.

“That is what would probably bring relief to areas like deep south and low-lying areas. That is what we will use to get funding for retaining the water and releasing them back into the channels.”

Noting that places unsuited for homes had been used to develop communities over the past few decades, Sinanan said these plans will alleviate flooding there as well.

“You can’t ask these people to leave these areas just like that. Government would have to find a way to bring relief.

"One of the ways is to dam the water before it reaches these areas and release it back into the channels.

"That is the plans we are working on. In some areas you may have to acquire land, some areas you will have to build dams and some areas you would have to relocate small communities. It would take a while to do that.”