Despite being scheduled for completion by October month-end, construction works at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS) Colgrain Swimming Pool on Camp Street are still to be completed.
In an interview with Stabroek Sport in August, Permanent Secretary Alfred King confirmed that in July a three-month contract had been awarded to Fyffe Building and Contracting Services to undertake repairs at the pool.
King had stated that he could not remember the exact date the contract began or when it would end but he had said that the maximum period for the construction works was going to be three months while the possibility existed that the works may have been completed earlier.
Stabroek Sport has made several calls to King over the past two weeks to no avail. His secretary would take a number and promise that he would return the call at the earliest available opportunity. Further calls were made yesterday and Stabroek Sport was continually told that King was not in as yet.
The Colgrain Pool has been closed since June this year after it was discovered that the pool’s filter tank had developed a hole that could not be easily repaired. Administrator of the pool Stephanie Fraser had said the hole was discovered on June 24 and after several attempts to rectify the situation, it was deemed beyond the scope of repairs and a new filter was settled on.
A new imported fibre glass filter tank was expected to arrive and replace the old tank. On August 19 King had said that the filter tank was scheduled to arrive in another two weeks, while in the interim the old filter system was expected to have been dismantled. King noted that the pool would not be open for use until it was fully refurbished and operational, and an “Out of Order” sign had been placed at the entrance to the pool.
In addition to the installation of a brand new filter, King had said that the works at the pool were also to include the repair and upgrading of the deck and driveway areas. King stated, however, that he was not at liberty to disclose the cost of the repairs.
The driveway area was completed weeks ago but the pool still remains closed. When Stabroek Sport visited the pool yesterday, the gates were padlocked and no work was being done. And a source indicated that work at the pool had been stalled for sometime now.
Since the pool has been out of service some five months now, developing swimmers have had nowhere to practice. This pool facilitates the training activities of four of Guyana’s top competitive swimming clubs: Dolphins, Silver Sharks, Orca and Dorado.
The Colgrain Pool is now stalled alongside works on the squash courts of the MCYS Racquet Centre, which is awaiting the arrival of the rubber floor and fibre glass back wall.
