Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali said he is dissatisfied with the sloth in completing water projects and contractors will face liquidation damages.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release Ali made these comments after a recent visit to the construction site for the Lima water treatment plant in Region Two. He said contractors had been given ample time to complete the projects.
“We visited this project [Lima treatment plant] some time in July and at that time the contractor gave us the assurance that he would have completed the project on time. Despite there were a few hiccups including financial lapses there is no excuse… the contractor will have to face some liquidation damages,” he said. Meanwhile, site engineer Arshad Yacoub in giving an update on the project, said it was about 50% completed.
Plants are also being built at Vergenoegen, Region Three and at Cotton Tree, Region Five under the Water Sector Consolidation Project which is being funded by a US$11.3 million grant from the World Bank with counterpart funding from the government of US$1.1 million. These plants will provide treated water to over 48,000 people. Two similar facilities are also being built at Sophia and Central Ruimveldt, which will benefit over 41,000 residents. The two plants have the capacity to produce up to 12 million litres of purified water per day. Trinidadian company Universal Earth Movers Incorporated has been contracted to build the plants.
As it relates to the water treatment plant at Vergenogen, the minister noted that the Guyana Water Incorporated has been scrutinising it. He pointed out that quality issues have been affecting the pace of the project and that GWI is waiting for the contracting company to provide a full report about how it plans to rectify the problem so that they can revise a work plan. “We accept responsibility to some degree but definitely not to the extent of extending until February next year to complete this project,” Ali reiterated.