Latest update October 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 22, 2011 News
Ferry traffic to the Supenaam Stelling which went down earlier this week has resumed after more repairs were effected.
There are no weight restrictions and the ferries serving Region Three, Essequibo Coast and Islands, returned to the troubled stelling on Wednesday, Transport Minister Robeson Benn confirmed yesterday.
On Monday, the multi-million stelling which suffered several setbacks was forced to shut down operations after the ramp leading to the drawbridge broke loose from its pontoon support.
Operations were shifted to the rickety Adventure Stelling once again, putting a hold on the decommissioning of that facility.
The Supenaam Stelling is proving a major headache for government after design faults were blamed for a number of frustrating problems.
In May last year, the stelling’s drawbridge, which allows vehicles to load into the ferries, buckled under the weight of a truck.
Initially, government had put the cost to a hefty $431M but later allocated more than $70M for remedial works.
President Bharrat Jagdeo had ordered a probe tasking Prime Minister Samuel Hinds to oversee investigations. Two private engineers were hired for the related probe.
There had been meetings with several of the parties involved in the construction of the stelling, including the contractors, BK International; the Ministry of Local Government, which was the executing agency; the Ministry of Public Works; the supervisors, Vikab Engineering and the designers, SNC Lavelin.
The Ministry of Local Government was the government arm that oversaw the project before it was handed over to the Public Works Ministry, which immediately raised objections last year January.
Key to those meetings was which parties would have been footing the bill to fix the defects and subsequent damage to the facility. However, the report has not been released nor has blame been apportioned, at least publicly.
It was only opened a few weeks ago before this latest incident.
On Wednesday, General Manager of the Transport and Harbours Department, Kevin Trim, was asked to proceed on immediate leave after meeting with Minister Benn and other senior Public Works officials.
Minister Benn declined to link the action from the recent closure of the Supenaam Stelling and would only say that there was a “lack of engagement” and “dereliction” on Trim’s part.
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