WILLEMSTAD — Civil Engineering Caribbean (CEC), which on its own initiative, developed a plan after tropical storm Tomas to tackle one of the largest drainage bottlenecks on the island – the two basins at New Harbor – held a presentation for the Central Committee yesterday. “From our calculations, it appears that 100 cubic meters of water per second should be drained to sea, instead of the current 6 owing to inadequate capacity”, said Gamal Douglas of CEC.The States had invited the engineers’ firm to give a presentation following questions from PS State member Melvin Cijntje. In a recent letter to the Minister of Traffic, Transport and Regional Planning, Charles Cooper (MAN), the State member concluded that no structural solution had been found for many of the areas that experienced problems due to flooding during and after Tomas. Having heard through the media of CEC’s master plan to possibly solve flooding problems in Saliña, Zeelandia and Groot Davelaar, he requested a presentation of the plan. He also wanted to consult with Minister Cooper, who was asked many questions about the plan yesterday. PS party-leader Helmin Wiels and PS State member Jamie Cordoba had also signed Cijntje’s questions in December.

12 million guilders

The plan amounts to construct three bridges – similar to viaducts – at the New Harbor, allowing for a free drainage of water, especially with downpours. The largest bridge with an approx. width of 50 meters should be constructed between Building Depot and the Free Zone, followed by a smaller bridge at the Amstel premises and another between the Amstel premises and the location of the PAR-building. Douglas states the project could be done in two phases and would involve 12 million guilders.

He emphasizes that the downstream drainage should occur gradually and in stages. “Almost all State members had asked many questions and most of the technical questions had come from Mr. Cijntje. Of course, everyone knows about the huge drainage problems on the island and that something should be done. People are concerned and the figures are as plain as day. Initially, the State members responded disbelievingly; thinking the calculations were incorrect. Our firm has ample experience in the field of infrastructure, including drainage. We support our calculations and of course, one could request a second opinion,” says Douglas.

He explains the frequent drainage changes led to insufficient capacity after the many land divisions had not taken drainage into consideration.

“Nowadays, we see that the Department of Public Works (DOW) considers the drainage with future land division plans more often.” Whether deepening existing dams is a solution, he says, “Not really, this is a difficult task considering the dams are always full lately. Aforementioned calculations stand even if the dams are deepened.”

Douglas explains that CEC was thanked repeatedly yesterday for taking the initiative. The company has not received any payment from the government for this plan and states it acted by way of precaution. “We also wanted the island to benefit from our experience. For that matter, if one decides to go ahead with the project, it can be realized locally; there’s no need to call in foreign experts”, says Douglas.