Around $10M will be spent on rehabilitative works to the Supenaam stelling as tenders for the contract were opened this week at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.
The stelling has been bedevilled by complications for years with BK International, the contracting company which initially built the structure and the Works Ministry trading blame on who should be held responsible for the defects.
BK has said that it will not be held responsible as the Ministry of Works “messed” up the stelling with the modifications it made.
The stelling was completed to the tune of $431 million but additional works, costing over $100 million, were eventually needed.
Last year September, a section of the concrete access way to ramps used to board the ferries, MV Sabanto and Kanawan, gave way under the weight of a city-bound heavy-duty truck carrying several tonnes of rice. The collapsed segment of the access way started out as a small hole but according to commuters, months of neglect and continued use by vehicles, including the heavy-duty trucks, saw the hole grow bigger until it became very unstable and weak.
It is believed that the hole was caused overtime by the weight of wheels of the heavy-duty trucks as they turned off from the straight section of the pathway to the section where they usually board the ferries. Several other sections have deteriorated.
Golden Fleece Rice Investment shouldered the responsibility in patching some of collapsed sections as that company had said it was looking after its interest since it used the area frequently in its transport of rice.
This week five companies placed tenders for rehabilitative works on the stelling. Their names and bids are shown in the table below.
Meanwhile, tenders were also opened for rehab works on the Parika Stelling. The stelling has been prone to flooding and some of the works will be done to raise the deck to prevent this.
The estimated cost for this project is $32.8M and five companies’ submitted bids. These are shown below.
