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The path of poor planning

Sep 13, 2012 Editorial

It is often expected that when people undertake major projects there would be some feasibility study. Such a study would indicate the possible problems likely to be encountered, the nature of the execution that should be undertaken and above all, the estimated cost of the project.
It is the latter that actually determines whether the project should be undertaken, help determine the person best qualified for the job and the possible duration of the project taking every possible thing into consideration.
Just over two years ago when the government announced that it was ready to construct a road to the Kuribrong River to facilitate the construction of the road leading to the Amaila Falls, there were raised eyebrows when the contract was awarded to Makeshwar ‘Fip’ Motilall. He was expected to walk the alignment and to select the best possible path for the road, determine the length of time he would take to construct the road and to design it to standards that would facilitate the passage of heavy equipment.
One would suppose that Motilall won the contract because he concluded that he would complete the roadway within eight months. But the layman having noted the scope of work, recognized that Fip had not only stated an impossibility; he had probably done no feasibility study.
He lost the contract and many local contractors rushed to complete the project. By this time the government had split the contract into lots and there were seven in turn. Now the nation is being told that the road is proving to be more difficult than imagined.
Dr Roger Luncheon has said that the recent signing of the financial package for the construction of the hydro project should serve as a fillip to the road contractors. He said that now that the funding has been approved, the road contractors must complete the project. But he does not say that the cost of the project is so much more than when Fip Motilall tendered.
It is the same with so many other projects being undertaken at this time. We now learn that a cable coming from Brazil is encountering serious problems. Surely, one would have expected a survey of the terrain to determine the best possible route for the cable. Instead, we now learn that the contractors laying the cable are continuously repairing broken lengths of the cable. We hear that the terrain is posing the problem; that the cable simply snaps because of the undulating terrain.
It cannot be that the decision-makers are undertaking things because there is money. The Minister of Works, explaining the reason behind the decision to expand the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, said that a Chinese Vice Premier happened to be passing through the region waving a lot of money. Guyana tossed its hat in the ring and came out with US$150 million for the airport project.
This project is underway and we are certain that there was no feasibility study. We simply accepted the bid provided by one of the Chinese contractors, China Harbour Engineering Company. This project is underway and should be completed in the coming months.
It could be that Guyana is caught up in the plight of poor developing countries. These countries need so much and therefore cannot pick and choose. There have been occasions when projects were foisted on us by someone making the loan. And in addition to foisting the project, these companies insisted that their officials be given specialist positions.
It is the same with the Chinese. Earlier this year we learnt that if the Chinese were providing the money for the projects in Guyana then the contractors had to be Chinese. This is all well and good but there is evidence that many of the projects constructed by these Chinese collapse. We see a bridge built by the company hired to construct Guyana’s hydroelectric facility collapsed in China, killing people and damaging property. We also know that the Skeldon sugar factory has more than teething problems.
It is imperative that we insist on value for money but then again, we seem to be telling ourselves that beggars cannot be choosers. What we are not telling ourselves is that we are preparing so much more for whatever we undertake since it is very likely that we would have to do and re-do.

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