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Ministry forced to re-award contracts for Synthetic Facility
By Edison Jefford
Works on Phase II of the construction of the Synthetic Track and Field Facility are continuing on schedule with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport re-awarding two contracts yesterday for the completion of the ticket boxes and the parameter fence at the Leonora site.
The Synthetic Track and Field Facility as it was photographed yesterday with the demarked area for the football field in the centre.
BK International is generally responsible for Phase II of the project, but the Ministry was forced to re-award two sub-lot contracts to two entities, Ramraj Construction and Howard Construction after the first contractor, J.P Mangal defaulted on the sub-lot that included the fence, which had initially caused some setbacks.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony revealed that the ministry has taken the matter to Court to recover money that was initially allocated. He said that the fence is especially important now given that grass was planted for the football field in the middle of the track and it can ill-afford to be compromised.
“By awarding these contracts to two separate contractors, we feel that we’ll be able to accelerate works on the fence. We have given the contractors specific deadlines,” Anthony said, adding that completion of the facility depends on the contractors working to precision.
The Minister said that the track will be laid this year once German company, BSW Regupol, who is responsible for that phase of the project, is satisfied with the asphalted surface to lay the track. “If everything goes well, we will have the track this year,” Anthony asserted. He disclosed that a seating capacity of between 8,000 to 10,000 people will be built next year.
The synthetic track has three main phases with several sub-lots or components. Phase I started in December 2010, and was expected to last around six months. That first phase included drainage and irrigation works, construction of two culverts, main access road and land preparation works, which included the loam filling process that allows for Phase II to commence.
Courtney Benn had won the award for Phase I after submitting a $124, 960, 227M bid. Overall, the Engineers’ Estimate for the completion of the entire facility is set at US$5M. This year will mark the third year of ongoing works on the Synthetic Facility.
Works in Phase II, Lot 5 is currently underway; these include, grading of the loam, filling base up to loam level and sub-surface drainage. Visibly, the track has been defined; grass planted on the demarked football field and the loam surface at about one metre above road level is ready for asphalting.
Currently, crusher runs are being enforced and two layers of asphalt will be laid following those runs. When that is completed, there will be a ‘bleeding’ process to get rid of the oil in the asphalt before a decision is made to lay the actual rubber track on the concrete base.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport among other ministry officials yesterday speak with the various contractors responsible for specific works on the Synthetic Facility at Leonora.
Apart from BSW Regupol, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which has to sanction the facility internationally, has to be involved in the decision making process that will result in the laying of the track, which was described as a complex process. The Synthetic Track will be Guyana’s first; Guyana, Suriname and Panama are the only countries without such facilities in South America.
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