Amidst criticism in the press, the rehabilitated Dawa pumping station in Region Two is poised to commence operations soon with the aim of bringing irrigation services to 32,500 acres of rice lands on the Essequibo Coast.
The European Union funded project to the tune of $409M is about 90 per cent complete and should be formally commissioned in a matter of days. The four pumps and auxiliary engines from Germany and the Netherlands have been installed and a successful dry run done, this newspaper has learnt.
On completion of the rehabilitation works, all four pumps that the pump station houses should be working at full strength. The pump station, built in the 1960s, has been out of operation for the last five years. Before that, it had been limping along for a number of years with only one of the four pumps working.
In a report published in the Kaieteur News last month, someone purporting to be from the village of Tapakuma levelled allegations of corruption against those involved in the project. The report said too that an EU consultant “seemed unimpressed with what has so far been done.”Speaking to this reporter on the site, the contractor, Harrichand Toolsie, disputed the allegations in the story and said that it was riddled with inaccuracies.
He said that contrary to what was said, the entire structure is made up of steel and glass, and not old boards and whitewash. Further, he called the allegations of corruption “garbage and trash.”
Toolsie said that the structure, which will house brand new pumps and engines, will be commissioned shortly. Further, the contractor has refurbished a number of residential buildings on the site. These buildings will be used to house consultants and other persons who visit the site.
He said that this pumping station will be the main source of irrigation for rice farmers on the Essequibo Coast.
The captain said that the contractor gave a commitment to the people of Tapakuma to upgrade part of the road leading from the village to the worksite and lamented that this is yet to be completed.
Former village Captain Doreen Jacobis said that since the project was being done in the community, she feels that the village council should have been given authority to see that the work was done according to the correct specifications.
From what this reporter was able to see of the building, it showed no appearance of having been constructed of old boards. But the contractor wouldn’t allow photographs to be taken of the building without the approval of the Minister of Agriculture, saying that if he did, it would constitute a breach of his contract.
Toshao of St Deny’s Mission Jerod Wong said that he worked on the site a couple of times. He said that although some parts of the pump station were constructed out of wood, they were not old boards, as the Kaieteur News reported.
But his concern was that the contractor, according to him, was to have done some widening work on the road. “I see the pumps come and nothing done to the roads yet,” Wong said, speaking of the arrival of large pumps, which had to be trucked along the same road.
Vice Chairman of the Region Two Regional Democratic Council Vishnu Samaroo said that the region wasn’t involved in the tendering, but he vouched for the soundness of the construction. He said that the structure consists of 90 per cent steel and glass.
According to an official in the EC Delegation, the there has been no report of dissatisfaction from the civil of mechanical engineers monitoring the progress of the project.
Moreover, the project supervisors found nothing to indicate any corrupt practices involving the project and expressed satisfaction with the work done.
“From our point of view, we receive regular reports from the supervisors. I myself visited the site four times. They [the supervisors] never raised any issue of bad quality or substandard work. I never got any suspicion that anything was wrong,” the official said.
“A supervisory contract was signed separately for a civil engineer and a mechanical engineer. They are following the works in detail. Whatever is done on the project is measured and a report issued,” the EU official said, adding that when requests for payments are received, the supervisors will submit a corresponding report before payment is approved.
The official said that outside of making sure that the project is done according to all the correct specifications and conditions, the EU wouldn’t get involved in determining where the contractor buys his items, like paint, wood and other building materials, and hinted that this could have been a sensitive point allowing someone to complain and level allegations of corruption.
“This project went through the required procurement procedure and was advertised properly…the different proposals were assessed and the best was selected, all done according to the procurement rules,” the official said. He said that the contract was signed with the contractor in November 2006. Tuesday, April 15, 2008, marked the end of the performance period for the contractor and the commencement of the six-month maintenance period which will end on October 15, 2008.
The official explained that during this period, any issues that crop up with the project will be rectified by the contractor.
Joseph Atkinson who works at the pumping station, said that the wooden parts of the structure are constructed out of bullet wood. He too refuted the article and said that the good quality of the work is evident.
According to Atkinson, the contractor also worked to remove asbestos from the old building and he said that the quality of this work was up to standard.
According to the man, the contractor is working to bring the pump station to full capacity with all four pumps working. He said that this hasn’t been the case for a number of years now. Up to about five years ago, the pump station limped along on one pump before going completely out of commission.
Head of the Guyana Rice Project Management Unit (GRPMU), Nigel Dharamlall told this newspaper that the statements made in the newspaper report were not a true representation of the facts. According to Dharamlall, the project is close to completion and there was a trial run on Tuesday. The project falls under the rubric of rice competitiveness and as such the GRPMU has a monitoring role in it.
He said that in the light of the El Nino weather conditions, it is important that the pump station was working at its intended capacity so that rice farmers could get the irrigation they need. He said that with the pumping station fully functioning, water from the Pomeroon River can be pumped into the Tapakuma Conservancy.
He said that the improvement in drainage and irrigation management provided by the Dawa project and other EU funded structures on the Essequibo Coast augered well for the rice industry. He added that with the proper drainage and irrigation mechanisms in place the region could even see additional acreage being made available for rice cultivation.
A fully functioning pumping station would also mitigate flooding during times of heavy rainfall. The Pomeroon area is one of many places that has succumbd to flooding during heavy rainfall over the past three years.
