The troubled Good Hope Stelling was back in operation on Wednesday afternoon and Senior Government Engineer Walter Willis is confident that the fault will not recur.
On Wednesday, engineers were able to re-attach the link bridge which had broken off on Monday while a vehicle was being loaded onto a boat and Willis said he ensured that the attachment was done in such a manner “so that it shouldn’t happen again”.
Willis noted that originally the project had some flaws and was poorly supervised by the supervising consultants. He said the government engineers were also not up to standard. But, according to him, “now that is all water under the bridge”. Willis was not involved with the project from the beginning and was handed the task of overseeing it after the flaws emerged.
He said that it is now about looking forward and ensuring that in the future the consultants are supervised. He said there will also be more rigid government supervision. Willis, who noted that he was not involved in the project originally, said he is taking a hands-on approach and will be making frequent trips to the stelling to see how it is working.
Region Two Chairman Ali Baksh also confirmed yesterday that the stelling was back in operation. Calls to Transport and Hydraulics Minister Robeson Benn’s phone went unanswered.
The stelling has been plagued by difficulties since its completion. It was completed to the tune of $431 million of contract approved funds. An additional $17.2 million was spent by the Ministry of Public Works in modification works, Benn had said.
The modifications included a drawbridge and a pontoon, both of which Benn said were “absolutely necessary” because the ministry took over the stelling “with great concerns”. The administration spent a further $50 million this year on repairs to make the stelling operational.
Construction firm BK International and the Public Works Ministry had blamed each other for the problems with the stelling, following the collapse of the end beam of its loading ramp when it was unveiled during the first quarter of last year.
The Works Ministry denied that it was to be blamed for the state of the stelling and said it was the T&HD that took over a facility “which was inadequate to handle the typical flotation as well as the arrangement to get onto the vessel for the heavy truck traffic from the Essequibo.”
Stabroek News has made numerous attempts over the past several months to obtain information from the Office of the Prime Minister on the findings of a report submitted by engineers Bert Carter and Marcel Gaskin in mid-2010 which gave an analysis of the stelling’s design, faults associated with the structure and corrective measures.
It also included information on the inputs of several relevant stakeholders, including Canadian company SNC Lavalin, which designed the stelling, BK International and the ministries of Local Government and Public Works, prior to the unveiling of the berth last year.
The team also made recommendations which were expected to be utilised in correcting the flaws at the stelling in anticipation of two Chinese roll-on, roll-off vessels which are being sourced from China.
The vessels are expected to be completed before the end of this year and will ply the Essequibo River routes served by the Transport and Harbours Department.
