Dear Editor,
Recent media reports in Guyana have highlighted further delays in the completion of a $78 million sluice that has been under construction at Buxton since November, 2011. The project is (reportedly) being undertaken by Colin Talbot Construction Services.
The delays of over one year were originally blamed on poor weather conditions and a shortage of timber piling, and now it has been revealed that there are going to be further delays in the completion of the project because the timber tanking piles are unable to penetrate the soil strata, and the recommended steel sheet-piles are very expensive and in short supply.
As a Buxtonian, and current resident of the East Coast district, I am naturally concerned that after so many months of construction, we are now learning about the completion delays; the cost over-runs; and natural disaster risks such as flooding which the inhabitants of Buxton have to face.
In closing, I want to thank the media which highlighted the delays, and would like to alert other leaders in Buxton to join me in keeping an oversight on the progress being made with the sluice. Media disclosures should prompt similar oversight of projects that have been undertaken in other parts of Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Morris Wilson