Dear Editor,
I would like to expand on an issue which was not as fully addressed as I would have liked in Mr Sohan’s excellent letter published on July 16 titled ‘It is possible supplementary funds will have to be sought from Parliament to complete the Hope Canal.’ This letter was in response to comments made by Minister Ramsammy on his visit to the Hope Canal on July 13.
While Mr Sohan stated that in his opinion the project will not be completed in 2014, Minister Ramsammy was wisely silent on a completion date, no doubt taking into consideration the statement he made back in 2012 which was published in the Stabroek News.
“The project will be completed in 2013 and we are confident, even with any slippage, that it would be functioning in 2013 and not in 2014. The conclusion by SN is reckless, if not mischievous.”
Almost certainly Minister Ramsammy will owe SN an apology.
Attached are three e-mails between myself and Mr T Balgobin (Ministry of Finance) in which I predicted a completion date as well as cost overuns for the Amaila Falls Access Rd. Note: These e-mails are dated more than two years ago.
“From: Edward Gonsalves
To: T. Balgobin
Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 3:14 PM
“Hi,
“A change of subject for the time being. When I return to Guyana we will take up what we discussed about the Canje project.
“Don’t know if you have much interest in the Amaila Falls Rd however here goes.
“My assessment. The Amaila Falls Rd will take four years to build assuming a start date of Feb 2010. Finishing touches will run into 2014. Why Feb 2010? Because that is the date my team began work on the alignment. We first went in and located Elm Rd… the link from the Mabura Hill Rd to the Essequibo River, and then Cleg Rd from the Bartica Potaro Rd to the Kuribrong River. Our alignment from the Kuribrong to Amaila… we named it Clergy Rd, was rejected by Fip because it didn’t run along the transmission line. We developed a profile along the transmission line which indicated that the alignment would better suit a roller coaster. I advised him that if he insisted on building the road within the transmission line alignment, it would be better to realign everything two or three Km to the South. I think he may have taken my advice as he was considering this proposal the last time we spoke… which must have been a year ago. Maybe he has seen the light and changed the road alignment entirely.
“Note: even with a two or three Km shift the road would be difficult to build and require a whole lot of concrete drains.
“My four year assessment was discussed with Krishna but never with Walter.
“Incidentally, if by now you don’t know the project will suck up considerably more than $15M. Fip knows. Hoping he can afford to take a haircut on the project. If not and if it is your job, best start looking for the additional cash.
“If this is of interest to you or for that matter any one of the stakeholders give me a short reply and I will elaborate.”
From: Tarachand Balgobin
To: Edward Gonsalves
Date: April 30, 2011 12:07:57 PM
“Thanks for the update Edward.
“As you know I am not involved in this project directly. However, I do know that Walter Willis is.
“Can I share with him your views and concerns?”
From: Edward Gonsalves
To: Tarachand Balgobin
“Of course you can share my thoughts with Walter. I would imagine he must already know that Fip is in deep trouble and needs bailing out. The question is with whose money. If the alignment for the road from the Kuribrong to the falls is still along the transmission alignment then he should ask to see the profile.
“Incidentally what will be most interesting is the alignment over the Mona ridge. It will be real tough to keep the grade less than 10%. Real steep up and real steep down … for a considerable horizontal distance.”
Back in 2011 when I made this prediction Fip was still the contractor and the project was supposed to have been completed by December 2011. Regrettably, even this February 2014 prediction may not be met because those responsible for construction of Section 2 possibly Section 7 and especially the Kuribrong bridge are in my opinion severely pressed.
I guess if Minister Ramsammy had received these e-mails, I would also have been branded by him as reckless and mischievous.
It is time Ministers as well as policy-makers take predictions made by contractors and “trusted advisors” with a pinch of salt. Favourable predictions are made by contractors to keep the client off their backs. Likewise, “trusted advisors” sing similar songs in order to ingratiate themselves to the listener.
While Mr Sohan points out and gives reasons why all our major projects required time extensions, with some taking twice as long to be completed as originally planned, contractors and “trusted advisors” go into whine mode and blame the delay on the weather. What nonsense. As Mr Sohan correctly stated, Guyana is a rainy country and inclement weather can only be accepted as an excuse for delays under exceptional circumstances.
Credit is due to those individuals who analyze the situation and invariably determine that delays are caused by poor planning, faulty designs, shortage of plant or material, incompetent personnel, shoddy equipment, and a lack of commitment. Unfortunately the price for being honest is normally retribution from thin-skinned vindictive bureaucrats.
Incidentally, Guyana may get the Providence/Diamond road project by mid-2015.
Yours faithfully,
Edward Gonsalves
