Latest update November 15th, 2024 1:00 AM
Paruima airstrip contractor gets $799M contract to do similar works at Paramakatoi
The current Paramakatoi Airstrip in Region Eight. (Photo courtesy, DPI)
Kaieteur News-The contractor who rehabilitated the Paruima Airstrip in Region Seven which started to crumble shortly after it was commissioned, has been contracted again by the government to upgrade the Paramakatoi airstrip in Region Eight.
The contracting firm is International Import and Supplies. In a recent interview with the Department of Public Information, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill confirmed that the contract has since been awarded to the company for $799 million.
Kaieteur News had reported in August that during the reading of bids at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), International Import & Supplies who bid $799,658,633 and Theodore Faria General Contracting Service who bid $605,443,627 were the only two contractors that submitted bids for the project. According to the government engineer, the works were estimated to cost $ 569 million.
In his interview, the minister shared that the contractor was given approximately eight months to upgrade the current deplorable double bituminous surface. It was shared that the part of the rehabilitation would involve the application of a sand gravel levelling course and the construction of rigid pavement.
This publication had reported that International Import and Supplies was given a $397 million contract through the Ministry of Public Works to rehabilitate the Paruima airstrip which was completed and commissioned in April this year.
Shortly after it was commissioned concerns were raised by persons using the airstrip that it had some defects in some section of the newly constructed surface.
The ministry had later clarified in a statement that the rehabilitation of the Paruima Airstrip is currently under the Defects Liability Period and the contractor is obligated by contract to remedy any and all defects arising thereafter.
Works on the airstrip were completed on April 14, 2024, and the project site handed over to the Ministry of Public Works on April 15. The ministry’s representatives along with the contractor had conducted a joint site visit on June 19, 2024 following reports from aircraft operators that the runway was in distress.
During the inspection, several surface defects were highlighted and the contractor was given clear instructions to have these defects remedied within a one (01) week period, the ministry stated.
Meanwhile, the Paramakatoi airstrip is one of several structures the government is rehabilitating in the hinterland regions. The ministry had highlighted previously that improved airstrips will aid in new developments in the villages, attracting more businesses, tourism, and socio-economic activities.
During the presentation of this year’s budget, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with the responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh had said that the government continues to rehabilitate and maintain hinterland airstrips to promote ease of access between the coastal and hinterland regions. In 2023, works advanced at Ekereku Bottom, Eteringbang, Karisparu, and Pariuma airstrips, which are all expected to be completed this year. “In 2024, $2.3 billion has been allocated towards completion of these airstrips as well as the rehabilitation and maintenance of several others including the Imbaimadai, Kaieteur, Kaikan and Matthew’s Ridge airstrips,” he explained.
(Paruima airstrip contractor gets $799M contract to do similar works at Paramakatoi)
- International Import and Supplies, National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, Paramakatoi airstrip, Paruima Airstrip, Region Eight, Region Seven
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