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Region three chairman says bridges repaired with ‘old materials’
– Yet attacks KNews report
Despite himself admitting bridges were repaired with “old materials”, Region Three chairman, Julius Faerber, is upset at Kaieteur News for reporting that the bridges were repaired using sub-standard materials.
Region Three chairman Julius Faerber
Faerber, through the Government Information Agency (GINA) yesterday took issue with an article in this newspaper’s Sunday Special headlined “Regional Chairman admits using sub-standard materials to repair bridges.” Faerber said the report was reckless, mischievous and malicious.
GINA reports that the regional chairman “categorically denied that he admitted that sub-standard materials were used to repair the bridges.”
But this newspaper’s record has Faerber as stating: “what we did we only maintained the bridges. So it is understandable that we will be using back some of the ‘old materials’ that are good in our opinion, in the engineering opinion that could be used for quite some time.
That is why you will find some of the materials unto the bridge are materials that were there before.”
“Old materials” and “materials that were there before” constitute “sub-standard” material, Kaieteur News’editor said yesterday in response to Mr. Faerber’s accusations. And therefore Kaieteur News rejects Mr. Faerber’s outburst against this newspaper which were based on farmers’ own rejection of the projects.
In fact, chairman of Vreed-en-hoop/La Jalousie Water Users Association, Kamal Ramraj, took Kaieteur News to see the bridges and told us that the bridges were unfit, as they would crumble under the weight of heavy machinery, such as cane harvesters.
On the issue of “when” the bridges were rehabilitated, Faerber said that Jitlall Rarnraj, a farmer, can testily that the bridge at Coglan Dam was done during the last crop and not after the last crop as stated in the Kaieteur News. However, it was the farmers themselves who rejected Mr. Faerber’s assertions, and he did back down when farmers vehemently rejected his claim that the repairs were done before the last harvest.
On the issue of draining dams, Faerber said he was shocked into disbelief because it is a well known fact that the Drainage and Irrigation Task Force has been draining dams in the rice farming areas across the region.
Kaieteur News cannot account for Mr. Faerber’s “shock” since it was the farmers who accused him of lying.
Besides that, the regional chairman noted that the Vreed-en-Hoop/ La Jalousie and Den Amstel/Hague Water Users Associations were each given $600,000 to assist in upgrading dams in the rice growing areas during the first crop of 2009.
Kaieteur News never made an issue about this, but it would be instructive to note that it was Ganga Persaud, the Vice Chairman of Hague/Blankenburg Water Users Association, who told the regional chairman, in the presence of other farmers, that he knew nothing of this allocation.
With regard to the “check structures” Faerber told GINA that when the contractors were contacted they accepted responsibility and promised to do remedial works. Again, Kaieteur News never made issues with this, except to report the comments of farmers.
In terms of the bulldozer, which Faerber said was “down”, he yesterday told GINA that it is currently working at Parika Back.
So, maybe it was fixed between Saturday and yesterday, Mr. Faerber?
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