Contractors are striving to complete drainage works along Republic Avenue at Mackenzie, Linden, before month-end, according to supervisor Felix Gerard of the National Authorizing Office (NAO) Task Force and the regional chairman on Tuesday lambasted the works.
The drainage work along Republic Avenue had come under criticism from the business community, community leaders and other residents. Gerard said that upon completion he is confident that the drains would be satisfactorily done.
However Regional Chairman Mortimer Mingo said that the works are undermining the road and the parapets along Republic Avenue at Mackenzie.
“For the amount of money being spent, this is the shabbiest piece of work that I have seen,” Mingo said on Tuesday in an interview with Stabroek News.
He also stated that he had written to a number of relevant authorities indicating his dissatisfaction and the concerns of residents over the existing works, including senior functionaries in the Ministry of Finance.
He said that he had received a response from Gerard stating that the design and scope of the work had been sanctioned by his office. “Certainly the RDC was never consulted on this project including the design… we sat on the advisory board of the LEAP programme and I checked on the minutes of meetings we had to see where this project was discussed, which I failed to find any.”
Further checks revealed that local consultant Samuel Wright was retained by the Linden Town Council as the oversight person. He too expressed dissatisfaction over the way the work was being done.
Pointing to the Linden Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Development (LCCID), Mingo said that he was surprised that its members had not spoken out against the works publicly.
According to Mingo the works are being done in the commercial centre of the town and a number of businesses are affected by its poor quality.
“One would have thought that the umbrella body that speaks for the businesses would have come out and make a statement and also to express concern on the execution of the project on behalf of the business people here,” Mingo declared.
It is unclear what has been hampering the timely competition of the drainage works at Mackenzie but it was noted that the works are being done in a stop-start manner. After a break of more than a week, works were done one day during last week and up to Tuesday no work had been done. Gerard said that he has been assured by the contractor Arundit Ramcharitar that the project budgeted at $41 million would be completed in an appropriate time frame. He said that a few bridges are yet to be constructed and some earthen drains are also in the balance.
From the inception of the project Mingo and Interim Management Committee Chairman Orin Gordon had said that the works were threatening the integrity of the road.
