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Contractor got $6.5M to patch potholes along 200 metre road – Faerber
A potholed section of the road
In his experience as a road contractor there has been the construction of a road at Sisters Village, West Bank Demerara, said Regional Chairman, Julius Faerber. He was commenting on the contractor who rehabilitated the now deteriorating School Road at Stewartville, West Coast Demerara.
According to Faerber, based on information from his Regional Engineer, School Road, which is 200 metres long, was in fact constructed last year, a project which commenced on October 1, 2008 and concluded on October 30 the same year.
The project, he said, was valued at $6,650,000 and was awarded after a tender process. Several contractors placed bids for the contract but it was the bid placed by Yogeshwar Bhola from West Coast Demerara that was found to be most favourable.
This newspaper first highlighted the state of the road last month after residents had reported that six months had not elapsed and it was already deteriorating.
Regional Chairman, Julius Faerber
Faerber, in an invited comment, said that since the road was rehabilitated with crusher run it was never intended to be permanent. He said that through the Region’s budgetary allocation a decision was taken to upgrade the loam road to that of crusher run.
“They are not permanent. After a while with the weather you will find that the crusher run would wash away and things like deterioration can occur.”
He said that the Region would usually upgrade roads on an annual basis with the intent of improving their durability. By next year, School Road should be eligible for a double bitumen surface, he said.
Yesterday, Faerber said that the information he had provided was in fact for another road. He related that the details of the contract required Bhola to patch potholes and render sectional repairs to the road. And all this at a cost of $6.6 million.
But according to residents, prior to an asphalt surface, the road they now traverse on a daily basis was surfaced with loam.
When this newspaper visited the area last month, residents did not hesitate to raise their concerns about the road. Residents have also alleged that the contractor who rehabilitated the road had admitted to the fact that he had never constructed a road before. They had also claimed that they are aware that the man had to borrow equipment to complete the job.
One resident related that he was elated when news reached the neighbourhood that the loam road they had utilised for years would be upgraded. But from the time the work began several residents recognised that it was a case of substandard work.
“We had to report this man because somebody see that he de putting on the tar before the crusher run. The Region people come and he had to scrape up all the tar then put down the crusher run and grade it into the loam…”
And the tar, according to the residents, was of a quality that leaves much to be desired.
“The tar that they use on the road is like none I ever see before in my life…de thing spill on me clothes, because I does walk and sell, and if you see how it thin and spotty, spotty. Was like water,” another resident divulged.
A drive along the near 200 metres long road had revealed several burgeoning potholes.
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