Seven months after the contractor wrapped up work and left, the airstrip at Wakenaam on the Essequibo River remains incomplete with the paving of the runway still to begin.
Chairman of the Wakenaam Neighbourhood Democratic Council, Zakir Khan told Stabroek News during a visit to the Essequibo River island on Wednesday that based on the schedule of work, the much-debated $54.4M airfield was completed. He explained that the contractor had completed his part and fulfilled the specifications. “I am not too sure whether that was the final phase of the work,” he added. Khan said that the authorities are still looking to pave the runway but he did not know when this would happen.
Millions of dollars were put aside for the project in the national budgets of the past four years but the venture encountered several hiccups before work started. Some work began last year February, but it was not until August that the major work went ahead at the Meer-Zorg site in the eastern section of the island, residents said. The contractor wrapped up work last December and moved out in early January. Residents said that several truck loads of sand and loam were laid on the 2,000 feet-long by 50 feet-wide surface.
Since then residents, who live in the area surrounding the airstrip, said that they have seen no other work done and currently, cattle and sheep graze in the thick grass that grows alongside the unfenced runway. Farmers also use the runway as a means to access their farms. Several residents have expressed disgust at “the wastage of taxpayers’ money.”
Chairman of Region Three, Julius Faerber told Stabroek News last week that the project had been completed. He said that the Public Works Ministry would be in a better position to pronounce on the project but repeated attempts by Stabroek News over the past two weeks to reach the relevant official at the ministry’s Work Services Group have been futile. When contacted, Director of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Zulficar Mohamed said that the airstrip was not completed as yet and the agency has not been requested to do the necessary inspection before any aircraft can land there.
One businessman, who lives close to the site, told Stabroek News that the contractors had told him that they were finished when they moved out in January. “They say is just like that (the work is supposed to be)…they carry back some material. They carry back stone and so,” he said. He said that some time before Easter a plane with some officials landed at the site and they had said that the runway needed to be extended. “This thing suppose to fence be me ain’t see no fence,” he further observed. “Dem man really do this thing bad,” he continued, pointing to a short stretch of the runway where a thin layer of concrete was spread.
It is not clear whether the contractor, identified as Gaico Construction Inc, had been paid the full contract sum.
Wakenaam residents had previously voiced concern about the project, saying that the island needed other forms of development rather than an airstrip. They cited the high rate of unemployment, fragile sea defences, and the development of the island’s agricultural potential as well as the need for a water treatment plant as priorities that needed to be addressed.
During this newspaper’s visit, several residents reiterated the same concerns. “Dah na serve no purpose,” said Joan McPhoy. “We nah want no airstrip, we want better drainage, better road, better water,” she said.
However, Medex at the Wakenaam Cottage Hospital, Kunjbeharry, said that in cases of emergency, an airstrip is ideal. “In case of evacuation, it good but on a daily basis, people would not be able to afford it,” he added. He stated that the hospital does not often have an emergency that requires the air-dashing of a patient to another hospital. “The cost of living is very high. People find it difficult to get $1000 to get to Parika,” he observed. One businessman said that an airstrip would allow for residents to take trips, for example, to Kaieteur Falls.
Meantime, concern was also expressed about the access bridge to the airstrip. It was pointed out that the concrete bridge was supported by wooden piles which was not ideal. Concern was also expressed about the road leading to the airstrip which was rehabilitated by Gaico. Work was completed at around the same time as the airstrip but already potholes are appearing at various sections. “The road damage before it finish,” the businessman observed.
He said that from what he was told, the contractor was supposed to redo the foundation then pave the road but it was just graded and paved. He pointed out too that the bitumen used was of a low quality. According to the businessman, when the consultant visited, it was stated that the road was not up to the standard required and the contractor promised to redo the road but has not done so. “If a man nah do something proper, he nah suppose to get pay,” the businessman said.
Meanwhile, asked whether he was satisfied about the quality of the road, Khan said that he could not be “much disappointed.” He blamed the poor quality tar used for the deteriorating state of the road. The low quality tar is being imported and supplied to contractors, he said. “It got some hole like the usual road,” he said. But residents pointed to another road which was done by the Ministry of Works three years ago and it was in excellent shape. Khan said that the contractor did some repairs but there are still some potholes showing up. He said that the contractor had completed the project and was paid. “What is needed now is the local department need some tar [to repair the road],” he said. This newspaper was told the some material was requested from the Ministry of Works but none has been forthcoming so far.
Meanwhile, in the neighbouring island of Leguan where another airstrip is expected to be constructed, the authorities are still in the process of sourcing land for that project, a regional official said.
The owner of the land identified at Leguan and several rice and cash crop farmers who had been farming in the area for more than three decades have been at loggerheads over the issue. The matter is reportedly before the courts.
Residents on the island had also objected to the construction of an airstrip there citing more pressing needs. In last year’s budget, some $149.9 million was allocated towards the construction of the two airstrips, in addition to rehabilitation and maintenance work on other airstrips across the country.
In the 2009 Budget, some $184 million was allocated for the projects but they never got underway and the authorities had said that the delay was related to the acquisition of land.
