The construction of the $191.5 million pump station at Lima, Essequibo Coast, has suffered setbacks due to the heavy amount of clay in the area.
So far, only two piles have been driven due to the soil conditions, while contractors have 63 piles to place.
The seawall in the area has faced heavy degradation over the years and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) Lionel Wordsworth is chalking it up to the nature of the soil. “They faced some difficulties because of the nature of the soil at that depth, it is somewhat fluid and that is causing some difficulties,” Wordsworth said, while noting that similar challenges were faced at Paradise on the East Coast Demerara, at Windsor Forest on the West Coast Demerara and at Canal Number 2 on the West Bank Demerara.
Wordsworth added that the contractor, Samaroo’s Investment, was well within the time allotted and there have been no requests for an extension. He said that a temporary structure is being constructed around the excavation site that will allow for the work to proceed. Wordsworth said work commenced in January this year. However, the contract for the project was signed on August 28 last year, according to the Government Information Agency.
When Stabroek News visited the site two Saturdays ago, the $50 million mobile pump which was placed at the site in September last year was still there.
Residents who spoke with this newspaper expressed frustration that the pump station was taking so long to be built. One resident told Stabroek News that many farmers suffered after their rice fields were flooded and the water took long to drain.
The resident said that the pump station had been promised for years and that the temporary pump wasn’t enough to handle the severe flooding that occurred in January this year. He stated that the reaction by the government was not quick enough and it was frustrating.
He told Stabroek News that while money was spent on commissioning the temporary pump in 2014 the pump station was promised years before that. He said that it seemed wasteful that just months after the temporary pump was placed at the site the construction began on the permanent pump station.
He stated that if the Lima station had been constructed when it had originally been talked about the temporary pump could have been utilised along the coast.
The Lima location was initially cited as one of the eight permanent locations for the controversial Surendra Engineering contract. The government has since distanced itself from the Indian engineering firm in the wake of the fraud allegations in relation to the $3.6 billion Specialty Hospital project.
In October of last year, the government filed a lawsuit against the specialty hospital contractor for breach of contract and fraud and is seeking damages to the tune of $100 million and the recovery of US$4.2 million ($865 million) in advance payments for the project.
Surendra was originally awarded the $820 million pumps contract in 2011 in a deal that was financed by India. The deal had been under scrutiny but the government refused to budge even in the face of reports that the company had little experience in the area of supplying pumps. Under the deal, 14 pumps were supposed to be provided with eight being fixed and six being mobile. Two years after the contract would have ended the remaining sites are still to be completed.
In June 2014, a $265 million pump and pump station was commissioned at Patentia, West Bank Demerara and it was promoted as being one of the eight pumps. However Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy subsequently disclosed to the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources that this was not the case. Adding to the controversy, Ramsammy revealed that the pump was provided by the same company that is supplying the equipment to Surendra.
During the Natural Resources committee meeting last year, APNU MP Joseph Harmon questioned where the fixed Surendra pumps would be located and Ramsammy provided eight locations: Paradise/Enterprise, Pine Ground, Canal No 1, Windsor Forest, Rose Hall, Gangaram/Eversham, Number 43 Village and Lima. Ramsammy had previously provided a list of some other locations including: Number 19 Village, Berbice; Albion, Corentyne; Rose Hall, Canje; Bengal, Corentyne; Crabwood Creek, Corentyne and Black Bush Polder, Corentyne.
