Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
GPL upgrade project…US$3.5M variation claims not yet paid – CEO
… Parties to meet soon
The claim by the Chinese contractor for an additional US$3.5M on the massive US$42M upgrade for the Guyana Power and Light Company Inc (GPL) transmission and distribution network, is yet to be paid or finalised.
GPL’s CEO, Bharat Dindyal
This is according to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the power company, Bharat Dindyal, who in an invited comment yesterday informed this publication that the variation claims by the Chinese are being assessed by the company’s engineers.
Government, he said, has also taken a position on the claim that it will back.
Asked how GPL plans to proceed, Dindyal confirmed that they will be meeting with the contractor shortly in order to iron out the problem. He said that the power company is currently awaiting the return of the vice president of the Chinese company, who is currently in Brazil.
As it relates to the project and its works, he said the majority of the workers are in China, where there is a national celebration being observed. They are due to return next month.
Dindyal said that at present there are just about 20 employees of the company in Guyana and these include administrative as well as “periphery” staff such as cooks.
It was this past week that the CEO had confirmed that the Chinese had made the claim for an additional US$3.5M, which if paid, would push up the contract price to US$45.5M.
He had explained that because the payments had not been made, this led in part to a delay in the project meeting its deadline. The company, according to Dindyal, had claimed to be experiencing cash flow problems as a result of the non-payment. To date, works have only been completed at two stations, Kingston and Sophia.
Dindyal had stated that the contractor’s large claim stems from the unavailability of poles.
The Linden unrest in 2012 has also been cited as a factor in the delay of poles, given that they could not be shipped out of the interior during that period. This, Dindyal said, has led the Chinese contractor to claim the additional US$3M that it wants the company to pay.
He said too that the contractor was allowed to import pine poles from overseas.
Some 600 pine poles have been erected along the East Coast Demerara, and according to Dindyal, the contractor is now also claiming an additional US$432,000 for importation.
He said that the matter is currently attracting the attention of the company.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who has responsibility for the electricity sector had told the media that “while we seek to maximize local input of poles there are certain risks.”
He indicated the extent to which government was insisting on the use of local poles, thereby delaying the importation of the pine poles from the US. “We will have to carry some amount of responsibility.”
Substations are being built to serve areas including Vreed-en-Hoop and Edinburgh on the West Coast of Demerara, North Ruimveldt, Sophia/Liliendaal, Good Hope, East Coast Demerara, Columbia, Mahaicony East Coast Demerara and Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara.
The programme entails the construction of seven new substations; expansion/upgrade of three existing substations; construction of approximately 96 km of 69 kV transmission lines, including a link between the Demerara and Berbice Interconnected Systems; 2.1 km of submarine cable; the construction of a new central control centre with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) capabilities, and installation of 251 km of fibre optic cable.
The power company said these developments will result in improved quality of supply, system stability, improved voltage regulation, and reduction of technical losses.
The new 69 Kva Sophia substation, built under the Infrastructure Development Programme (IDP) is considered to be the nerve centre for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL.) This was successfully connected in July last year to the national grid.
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