Work set to begin on $125M Mamoral Dam

On Wednesday evening, Works Minister Franklin Khan told residents of flood-prone Brasso/Caparo that Government is to construct a $125 million dam at Mamoral, and work is to begin in a matter of days. The project will take two years, Khan said, which will bring an end to flooding in the area. Khan held a consultation forum with villagers in Caparo where he made the announcement. Present were parliamentary representative for Caroni Central Hamza Rafeeq, chairman of the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation Jeewan Mangroo, and UNC councillors Paras Ramoutar and Sahadeo Boindoo.

Scores of villagers came out of their homes to hear the minister after he conducted a tour of several areas, often covered by water five feet deep. Speaking to residents in the compound of a mini-mart Khan said: “Today is a landmark day in the history of the country’s rural development. Government is committed to spending close to $125 million on a project to construct the Mamoral Dam over the next two years.” Admitting that Caparo experiences the worst, Khan, a geologist, explained to residents that the Caparo River starts in the Monsterrat Hills and flows in a westerly direction, with its outfall in the Gulf of Paria. The outfall, he added, meanders within the borough of Chaguanas. Khan stated, “The town of Chaguanas was developed on the banks of the Caparo River.”

He said Cabinet approval for the dam construction was based on modifications of the designs which would see widening of the Caparo River. It will begin from the location of the proposed dam through the Brasso/Caparo Bridge and along a distance of approximately six kilometres. Work completion is carded for April. Starting in March, the minister said, is construction of a raised bridge along the Santa Phillipe Local Road. Temporary work would commence, Khan told residents, on raising the road where it had dropped. This would allow roads to be passable during construction of the dam. The minister asked residents to bear with some of the inconvenience they would have to undergo. The works would also involve some tampering with the village cemetery.