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Pontoon, ramp retrieved and taken to Supenaam stelling
Parika Roll on/Roll off stelling…
Officials from BK International have relocated the pontoon and ramp that sank off the Parika Stelling on Saturday.
Last Saturday speedboat operators upon turning out to work noticed the pontoon on its side with the ramp partially in the water, while another pontoon had submerged.
A section of the ramp that was submerged off the Parika Stelling, as it holds onto one of the two pontoons.
Efforts by this newspaper to contact Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn failed.
The incident will further delay the two US$14M Roll on/Roll off ferries from going into operation.
Another factor which is contributing to the setback of the roll on/roll off stelling is the need for 75-foot greenheart piles for the modifications to the design. The Public Works Ministry is having difficulty in sourcing these piles.
Initially it took more than four hours for the ferry to travel between Parika and Adventure. The government decided to limit the travel time to less than three hours by constructing the stelling at Supenaam.
At a cost of more than $400 million BK International constructed the stelling which then remained idle for nearly two years.
There had been concerns after the company was awarded the contract for the Parika Stelling, especially following problems with the new Supenaam stelling a few years ago. Shortly after that stelling was commissioned, there were issues with the support beam holding the ramp leading from the stelling to the ferry.
The two roll on/roll off ferries arrived in Guyana late December as a “gift” from the Chinese Government.
Each vessel has three decks and can hold up to 800 persons, 44 cars, and 20 lorries and can travel at a test speed of 12.5 knots.
The ferries will continue to provide a crucial link between Essequibo Coast, Region Two, and the city. Rice and cash crop farmers are heavily dependent on ferries to transport their produce. They also provide a link to Wakenaam and Leguan, two islands in the Essequibo River.
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