Latest update December 25th, 2024 1:10 AM
Latest News
- Guyanese losing millions from Govt. and Opposition’s failure to to manage oil sector
- ‘Guyana’s Stabroek Block success is like a Michelin Star Restaurant’ – Exxon official
- Gaza appeals for help as Israeli army attacks key hospitals
- Face the Press, Mr. President!
- State makes application to revoke Brutus’ bail
Jail time touted as means of tackling shoddy works
The defective $1B Kato Secondary School, Region Eight
For too long, Guyanese taxpayers are being burdened by footing the massive costs of repairing infrastructural projects that could have been constructed properly in the first place.
This is the contention of Veteran Engineer, Charles Ceres. He said the fact that errant parties continue to escape court action and perhaps eventual jail time for executing shabby works, can be seen as an indictment on the part of the government – both past and current.
“People don’t understand the cost to the consumers and the population of failed engineering projects,” Ceres posited.
“If you are driving down a road that is full of potholes, and you have to slow down every minute, your gas consumption goes up. That is foreign exchange that leaves the country.”
The Managing Director of Ceres Ground Structures Engineering Consultants, made reference to a number of projects that were shabbily executed, and now require hefty repairs. For example, there are the $350M Hope Canal Bridge and the $1B Kato Secondary School.
Less than four years after its commissioning, the Hope Canal Bridge is now scheduled to be repaired at the massive cost of $46.6M.
Even though the company contracted to build the bridge had raised concerns about its flawed designs, it was told by the Engineering consultants to go ahead and begin works. A few years later, the approaches to the bridge have begun to sink.
When questioned about sanctions likely to be instituted against the errant consultants, Agriculture Minister, Noel Holder, had said that Government will be withholding the monies it owed the company. Ceres views such forms of punishment as being synonymous to a tap on the wrist.
“In other jurisdictions, these things would not elude the courts. People would’ve been jailed for things like these.”
As it relates to the Kato Secondary School, that project was undertaken by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government at the cost of almost $1B.
It was Kares Engineering that executed the shoddy works. As a consequence, an additional $150M now has to be plugged into repairing the defective Region Eight school building.
“One of the things that we did, just as a test, we looked at the government’s specifications for one of these road projects, and we (Ceres’ company) brought the same samples in our lab and tested it. It never satisfied the specifications. It never did,” Ceres highlighted.
He pointed out the fact that works on many state-funded projects are passed and approved, but start to crumble soon after.
“This is a demonstration of the incompetence on the part of the people doing this work. And I’m talking about both in the public and private arena,” Ceres maintained.
In the private sector, there have been a number of reports of shabby construction resulting in injuries and even the death of persons. Only last December, a Diamond, East Bank Demerara, woman died after her bathroom wall collapsed on her.
Going back to the national contractors, Public Infrastructure, Minister David Patterson declared a few months ago, that he was dissatisfied with the level of incompetence and lack of professionalism displayed by the majority of local construction firms. This had previously resulted in the delay of several of the state’s major infrastructural projects.
The Minister said that often times, companies bid for multiple state projects, but are unable to competently complete any.
According to Patterson, there are currently no mechanisms in place that can prevent incompetent companies from bidding for more than one project.
Patterson had told Kaieteur News that while errant companies are not exactly blacklisted, the Government does have the prerogative to decline to work with any company based on past bad experiences.
Mr. Ceres believes that the administration, both past and present, has had enough bad experiences to warrant that jail time be examined as a solution.
“Look, if anybody works for me and they do poor quality work, they would never work for me again. But that doesn’t happen with the Government of Guyana. You do poor quality work for them, and you get more work to do,” Ceres said.
He believes that the penalty clauses attached to contracts signed between government and contractors are inadequate, and in some cases, not being used effectively.
“These clauses aren’t being used as a deterrent. Maybe they are just standard clauses for these contracts,” Ceres reasoned.
(Rehana Ahamad)
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Merry Christmas, Ya Filthy Animals!
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- Ah, Christmas—the season of goodwill, good cheer, and, let’s not forget, good riddance!... more
Breaking the Chains of Poverty: A need for political will
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The year 2024 has underscored a grim reality: poverty continues to be an unyielding... more
Weekend Cartoon
