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Bring the complaints to us-BK International tells Bee Hive residents
Local contracting firm BK International has expressed surprise at allegations made by residents of Bee Hive, East Coast Demerara about damage to infrastructure while the company was carrying out sea defence works in the area.
Spokesman for the company, Public Relations Consultant, Kit Nascimento, told Kaieteur News yesterday that the company first learnt about the situation from a recent newspaper article.
Residents are forced to park their vehicles away from the security of their properties.
In the article, the residents cried foul over the destruction left behind by the contracting firm following the completion of sea defence work there.
The contracting firm has removed all of its equipment from the area. It has also removed temporary infrastructure that facilitated its work even after destroying that which existed before for the benefit of residents, said the complaining people.
In question is a wooden bridge that provided access to the community from the main East Coast Demerara Highway, prior to the commencement of the sea defence works in 2009.
But according to Nascimento, BK International is unaware of the damage to the initial wooden bridge.
He said that as far as the company is aware, none of its vehicles had used that facility.
Although the bridge was not used by the contracting firm because it could not accommodate the heavy duty trucks, residents claimed that it was damaged and rendered unusable for light vehicular traffic by one of the company’s truck.
They explained that BK International had built a temporary facility to accommodate their trucks, but while using that facility one of the trucks encountered difficulty and caused damage to the existing wooden bridge.
The residents were not too perturbed since they were allowed to use the company’s temporary crossing. However they became annoyed when the company, upon completion of their sea defence work, removed the temporary crossing facility.
“The company is surprised because the company has received no complaints. We are surprised that if they (residents) have a complaint to make, why not express it directly to the company,” Nascimento told this newspaper.
He said that up to Thursday, the construction firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Brian Tiwarie. was unaware that an official complaint was made.
“As far as he knows, his equipment never used that small bridge and did no damage to it,” Nascimento added.
He said that while it has not been definitively established that the company was responsible for the damage to the bridge, BK International remains committed to rectify any damage that results directly from its construction works.
“If they make a formal complaint to the company then we can examine it and see what can be done,” Nascimento stated.
With regards to the drainage in the area, which according to residents, was adversely affected by the company’s works, the spokesman said that BK International actually improved the situation in the community.
The residents also complained about the destruction caused to residents’ homes as a result of the vibration from the heavy duty vehicles of the contracting company.
In one case, several concrete columns of a house were split while a huge chunk of concrete plaster was torn from a wall.
This has angered residents who are convinced that BK International is not being a good corporate citizen.
Even the road that was used has been left to the mercy of the weather, making it sometimes impassable for residents.
“Look if you got a complaint with any justification to it, bring it to the company’s attention,” Nascimento stressed.
According to one resident, when the sea defence project was commissioned, Works Minister Robeson Benn had pledged to ensure that any damage done as a result of the works would be repaired.
“De Minister promise we dat dem gon repair de damage but dat was only word-a-mouth,” one resident stated.
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