Latest update January 1st, 2025 1:00 AM
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Baracara revetment controversy…Contractor defends himself against claims of shoddy work
Contractor Mark Gupta of Gupta Contracting, defended his company’s work in the construction of a 260-foot long revetment at Baracara, Canje Creek saying that he carried out his work as specified.
He said that the first complaint about the job was that the revetment was brought in too close to the school fence. Gupta said that he worked with instructions from the regional engineer and the clerk of works at that time, Mr. Loch. He said that both persons were present at the site and pointed out the placement of the revetment.
Moreover he said that villagers, Mr. Caesar and Mr. Amsterdam, were also present during this time and are willing to give supporting evidence.
Gupta said that he is being accused of using Mora instead of bulletwood. He said that his bills of quantity clearly state that either of the two species of wood could be used. When examining the bills of quantity provided by Gupta, it was stated that mora or bulletwood can be used for king piles, anchor piles, timber wailer and sheet piles.
“In addition to that, before commencing work in the creek I asked the regional engineer which species of wood is preferable since both species listed are the same price. He told me to use any of my preference; hence, I used mora and proceeded with my work.”
The contractor’s third contention is that he was accused of not backfilling the area to the correct height. Referring to the bills of quantity, Gupta said that there was no specification that materials should be imported to do this, hence materials from the area were used to backfill.
The Bills of Quantity used for the project
The revetment at Baracara which has stirred much controversy
Gupta said that if corrective work is needed to fill up the revetment more, he is willing to do this but under the condition that the regional engineer identifies where the material should be taken from since residents in Baracara are protective of their soil.
Another issue which the contractor is peeved about relates to reports that he used a bulldozer in the creek along with a dredge to grade the land and take away materials. He said, “I am not the owner of a bulldozer neither a dredge. The only machine I took in the creek was a 315-caterpillar excavator, which did not grade the land but levelled the land to have uniformity.
“In addition, they had mentioned that I have used only 30-foot sheet pile. My bills of quantity clearly states to use 30-foot king piles, 25-foot anchor piles and 12-foot sheet piles.”
He further contends that the regional engineer attempted to find fault in his work mainly because the engineer’s design of the revetment had flaws. “One matter he (the engineer) brought up was the spacing in the sheet piles. From an engineer’s perspective and looking the soil type, my impression is that the engineer neglected to carry out a feasibility study of the area in Baracara.
“The soil is a mixture of sandy-clay material surrounded by fresh water. The dynamics are dramatically different for clay setting in salt water as opposed to fresh water.”
Gupta said that he tried his best to get rid of the majority of spacing as possible, however the space remaining was minor. He said that when he observed the problem he informed the engineer and proposed that geotextile fabric be used to prevent seepage of soil from the revetment.
“He unfortunately ignored my solution and advised me to work with my bill. I went further pleading to him that the use of geotextile along the Canje creek is common for this particular reason. He ignored my request and advised me to work with my bill of quantities once again.”
The contractor was also called out for destroying a walkway. In his statement he took full responsibility and said that he later returned and constructed a new walkway for the villagers free of charge.
“Moreover, because of old people in the village I went further and constructed a stairway and railing for the elderly to have easy access to and from the medical centre. Another complaint surfaced recently that another walkway located in front of the school, is damaged. I am not responsible for damage to this one. However, I have no problem fixing this walkway free again.”
Residents from the community had protested against the work done to construct the revetment, accusing the contractor of delivering substandard work. Residents had even refused to sign the document signalling their disapproval, thus restricting the contractor from receiving his payment of $7.1M.
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