Equipment offloaded, but questions abound

Aug 18, 2010 News

US$15.4M Amaila Falls Road Project…

– no statement after 72 hours
There was a buzz of activity early yesterday morning at the OMAI wharf in Linden, as some 28 pieces of equipment to be used in the Amaila Falls Road Project were offloaded from the barge that was docked at the facility.

An overhead view of the equipment as the offloading commenced

The pieces of equipment, most of which bore the Synergy Holdings Inc. logo were sent to be cleaned, and where necessary, serviced. Included among them are four excavators, a front end loader, a self-propelled scraper, two crawler dozers and three dump trucks and other types of trucks. Six lengths of culvert pipes to be used on the project were also removed from the barge along with a 20-ft container for which this newspaper was unable to verify the contents.
Senior Engineer and Ministerial Advisor ,Walter Willis, was observed at the site during the offloading exercise and upon inquiry it was learnt that he is the Employee Representative Engineer nominated by the Ministry of Public Works for the project.
He will be assisted by Patrick Thompson who is the Environmental Engineer.
And Kaieteur News understands that SRKN’gineering will be Supervisory Consultants, monitoring the progress made by Synergy Holdings Inc.
However the relevant authorities continue to be elusive as it relates to disclosure of any substantial information on the project.
As it relates to the actual start date – when the equipment will commence actual construction – it is at present unclear, given that the most recent revised plans were received on August 6 after which there is a four-week stay to respond.
Senior Engineer Willis explained to Kaieteur News yesterday that there are several preliminary measures that have to be undertaken before notice to proceed can be issued. He said that the completion date that the government had envisaged would have to be revised but could not say at the time by how much.

One of the excavators on the barge

Meanwhile Minister Robeson Benn who had asked that this newspaper make contact with him in the afternoon failed to answer his telephone despite repeated calls.
Among the pertinent questions which Kaieteur News would like to ask the relevant authorities: Why couldn’t some of the equipment be sourced locally? What caused the delay with customs in the US? Where are the remaining pieces of equipment? How much more equipment is required and when will that arrive? Why is it that Synergy Holdings Inc could not use the equipment it used for the “Florida and Georgia” road projects? How dissatisfied is the government with the manner in which this project has been progressing? Have there been any further advances made to Synergy Holdings Inc?
Quite frankly, there are many more questions than answers.
The equipment arrived in Guyana early Sunday morning and was first docked at the Guyana National Industrial Company (GNIC) Shipyard and Wharf where the vessel was cleared by Customs, Port Health and Immigration before it was taken up to the OMAI Wharf in Linden.
The equipment offloaded yesterday, in the opinion of some who have seen it, is nowhere close to what is required to undertake the project at hand, which has already been acknowledged to have been delayed by the absence of the requisite amount of equipment.
The equipment will be used for the construction of some 110km of virgin road through the forest as well as 85km of road where trails already exist.

A section of one of the heavy duty trucks being hoisted into position on the OMAI wharf

The company, Synergy Holdings Inc., is also expected to deliver on the construction and supply of a pontoon crossing on each bank of the Essequibo River at or in the vicinity of Butakari, and on the Kuribrong River, at or in the vicinity of Portage Falls, in accordance with the specifications set out.
The pontoon must be capable of carrying 100 tonnes minimum. The roads (whether new or existing) must also be capable to carry 20 tonne/axle vehicles with the design maximum unit carrying capacity of 100 tonnes.
All roads must also be stabilised and capped with a minimum six inches of laterite or similar materials compacted to 95 per cent proctor and suitable for use as the final wear surface.