Everyone involved will have to answer – PM

Jun 16, 2010 News

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– Engineers’ report could be released in six weeks

Government says that an engineers’ report on the circumstances that led to the buckling of a ramp of the new Supenaam stelling could be disclosed within six weeks.
Already, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds said yesterday, all the parties that had anything to do with the stelling have been given copies of the report and are to meet with him to review it.
Key to these meetings will be which one of the parties will be footing the bill to fix the defects and subsequent damage to the facility.
“Two engineers have submitted a report… I have reviewed it. We have reviewed it at cabinet. I have, to date, invited the relevant groups – the designer, the supervisor, the contractor – to submit to them copies, and invited them to meet with me and review the matter.”
In an invited comment, the Prime Minister noted that the report addresses a number of issues found by the engineers.
This is in addition to those reported by the media and even the financial implications due to the added works that would have to be undertaken if the stelling is to function effectively.
Regarding these extra costs, Hinds would only say these are issues that would certainly arise.
He did not comment on the modifications made to the structure by the Ministry of public works after contractor handed over B.K. International the facility to government in January last.
The parties will have to say why procedures were not followed and even staffers from the Ministry of Public Works who carried out remedial works will have to answer.
“I hope that in six weeks’ time I would have something fairly definitive. I hope that I would have discussions with the parties concerned and within the new few weeks, I would have something to release.”
Almost four weeks ago, President Bharrat Jagdeo had ordered a formal review into the almost $431M facility after a ramp collapsed while a ferry was being loaded.
Two private engineers were retained to conduct the investigations and prepare a report.
Almost four days after it was opened to traffic, the stelling was forced to close operations after its ramp buckled under the weight of a truck boarding a ferry.
The contractor, BK International, distancing itself from the incident, took media houses on an inspection shortly after and said that modification works on the ramp by the Ministry of Public Works had caused the problems.
Late in April, an extra pontoon being installed by the Ministry sank while work was being done to attach it to the ramp.
BK International, during the tour, had claimed that the modifications including the extra pontoon and the drawbridge were not needed since tests had found that the one pontoon could have taken the weight.
The officials believed that the current modification works have resulted in the structural integrity of the stelling being compromised.
During a press conference, Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn had stressed that his Ministry only took over the facility in January, and in a pressure situation, immediately started works to rectify a number of key problems inherited from the construction phase to ensure that facility was brought to use.
The Ministry expended an additional $18M to add a new pontoon and a drawbridge to allow vehicles to load and offload from the ferries. This was expenditure in addition to the $431M.
Benn stressed that when his Ministry took over the facilities in January, it was immediately recognised that two problems had to be fixed. This included the issue of the bridge leading to the ferries and the question of flotation, since the one pontoon stabilising it could not have worked. And there was the question of fixing the large gap between the ferries’ loading area and the ramp.
According to Benn, in January, tests using a loaded truck found that the pontoon was at the unsafe level when significant weight was added.
Further, it was decided that it would have been highly impractical to attach drawbridges to all vessels docking there. The ideal situation was to build a drawbridge from the stelling’s bridge.
Inspections of the buckling of the ramp found that while the drawbridge remained intact, the ramp’s end beam was bent which raised questions of the quality of the steel used, among other issues, the Minister had pointed out.
It was also noted that although the facility was supposed to take up to 30 tons in weight from trucks, and on the average, it was inconceivable that the ramp could have buckled if it was built to specification.
On questions why BK International had been issued a Certificate of Completion, Benn noted that his Ministry was not involved in this, since the stelling was being managed by the Project Execution Unit of the Minister of Local Government. Public Works, he emphasized, only took over the facilities in January.
He insisted that there was a supervisory engineer, Vikab Engineering, which was monitoring the works to ensure that the facility was built to specification.
The officials declined to comment on questions whether they were happy with the overall project and if the preliminary designs could have been done better.
Minister Benn also disclosed that any repair works to the stelling would have to wait until the two independent engineers completed their investigations.
In the meantime, Essequibo travelers have continued using the old Adventure stelling.

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