At the May 22 Sitting of the House of Assembly, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Co-operatives addressed the desilting of the John Compton Dam.
Within his opening statement, the Hon. Ezecheil Joseph said while the desilting of the dam may take longer than expected, work has begun.
“It will take eight to ten years to desilt the entire dam. During the first two years, whoever is given the contract to desilt the dam, what we have agreed as a management team is that the equipment that will be purchased for the first two years will be owned by WASCO and during that process we are going to train locals to operate that equipment. In addition, what we have negotiated with the Caribbean Development Bank is grant funding where the lands surrounding the dam are still fragile, and through the forestry department we will see a project where we shall be rehabilitating these lands and planting trees to stabilise the lands, and the soil along the John Compton Dam.”
The dredging of the dam has begun, marked by an official sod turning ceremony in Millet.
Related Articles