The Ministry of Waterways will soon embark on a number of projects to counter frequent flooding in Rakiraki Town and nearby areas.
Minister Dr. Mahendra Reddy told Parliament today that the tender for the dredging of the Penang river mouth where 140,000 cubic metres of silt material has to be removed was advertised last week and will soon go to the tender board.
Dr. Reddy says 3.5km of Nakauvadra River needs to be dredged and the massive amount of debris from upstream needs to be cleared.
He says they will be advertising for tenders for this project in a few weeks time.
The Minister for Waterways adds that they have also allocated $212,000 to the Rakiraki Town Council to undertake drainage work around the town area.
Dr. Reddy says new drains will be created, existing drains will be cleaned and closed drains will be opened up.
Mahendra Reddy told the parliamentarians that they are also proposing to widen the mouth of the Penang River which will increase the flood discharge capacity.
Dr. Reddy says the Penang river mouth is deposited with huge amount of sand and silt due to upstream deforestation and land degradation.
He says some people are saying that rivers in Rakiraki did not flood 30 or 40 years ago.
However, Reddy says this amount of sedimentation did not come into the river 30 or 40 years ago as now there is an increased amount of agricultural and logging activity in Rakiraki.
