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$1B Kato school…Contractor faces Govt. wrath over shoddy work
It appears that the patience of Coalition Government has run thin with a contractor that has fouled up big time with a Secondary school at Kato, Region Eight.
An overhead shot of the defective, $1B Kato Secondary School, Region Eight.
The Kato Secondary School, a major project that was handled by the previous Government- the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)- is falling apart without one class being held.
Government will have to spend more than $150M to repair that construction which has cost a staggering $1B and counting.
Yesterday, Government warned the contractor, Kares Engineering Inc., to do the “honorable thing” and not bid for another state contract until it can get itself in order.
Responding yesterday to questions over the state of the Region Eight school, Vice President and Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, disclosed that while Kares is not barred from tendering for government work, it is unlikely given the current circumstances that the company will be granted any.
Kares, a company whose director is listed as Radesh Rameshwar, has first to bring itself into compliance with the law and convince Government that it is practising proper construction techniques before receiving state contracts, the official disclosed.
However, the government official made it clear that in a democracy, anyone has a right to tender; but whether they win the contract is another matter.
Trotman noted that reporters had travelled to the school and had seen the defects for themselves.
The matter takes more significance as the issue of children’s safety has come to the fore.
Describing the Kato school construction as beyond shoddy, the minister believed that Kares should do the honourable thing and withdraw from bidding for state contracts.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, is in the process of determining who will stand the cost of the remedial work to the Kato Secondary School building.
More than 400 students and teachers are expected to occupy it. It includes dorms and other facilities and would have catered for students from the outlying areas in Region Eight.
“Ultimately the wellbeing and welfare of children, and their right to an education must be paramount, so I believe that the Minister of Public Infrastructure is going to be finding ways to do some repairs to the building so that it can be safely, efficiently occupied by the students,” the Minister said.
Minister Trotman explained that Government is still determining how to recover damages from the contractor and that the Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General is leading this exercise.
“The Minister of Public Infrastructure I know is in active discussion with the Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General… Do we allow the company that presided over the bad workmanship, to be compelled to go and fix it? Or do we surcharge them by way of taking them to court and getting damages?”
On discovery of the defects, the Minister of Public Infrastructure was mandated by Cabinet to guide a complete review of the project. This evaluation on the work completed by Kares revealed that only about 10 percent of the school was structurally sound.
Approximately 60 percent of the project was defective, with another 30 percent being just over the borderline. It was also revealed that remedial works on the building would cost another $140M.
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true democracy would be to inform the nation and inform the company and the public that the company has been outlawed until he makes the necessary correction. What the company need to complete should be outlined for all to see and after it has been cleared then they would be free to apply. If he submits a perfect proposal and this problem is swept under the rug by his friends it would appear that the person conducting the tender over looked the perfect tender. They are not going to say this was the culprit that did the mischief at Kato.