It is highly doubtful that DIPCON will have its contract further extended on the long-delayed East Bank Demerara (EBD) road improvement project.
This is according to Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson, who said some of the other contractors were almost finished. These include General Services Inc and BK Inter-national, General Earth Movers Limited/Gaico Construction.
A worker on site at DIPCON said work had ceased several days before the May 11 elections. However, he did not give a reason why the work had stopped. DIPCON was responsible for the Providence to Covent Garden section of the road.
It was granted three extensions: from April 30, 2013 to October 31, 2013, then to June 28, 2014 and then to December 28, 2014, according to the 2013 Office of the Auditor General (OAG) report. The project is still not complete. The OAG report said that as of August 2014 only 42% of the project had been completed. The main reason given for the third extension was that GPL and GT&T cables were delaying work at the Mocha Bridge. At the time of the physical inspection, 44% of the US$8 million contract sum had been paid to the contractor.
Lot three at Diamond was awarded to BK International Inc in the sum of US$3.44 million. Three extensions were granted to this contractor: October 31, 2013, to August 14, 2014 and then March 2, 2015.
Patterson had said that his government intends to be tough on delinquent contractors.
When Stabroek News visited the East Bank Road improvement project on Thursday, none of the contractors were working.
Komal Singh,managing Director of Gaico, which was responsible for the Little Diamond to Prospect section, said the company completed the project in December and was given a certificate by the Minister of Public Infrastructure last month.
Major delays and other problems were outlined in the OAG report on the EBD road improvement project, one of the major initiatives of the former PPP/C government.
Difficulties removing utility infrastructure was the main excuse given for delays on the project.
In its report on the 2013 accounts for ministries, departments and regions, the OAG urged the then Ministry of Public Works to ensure that proper planning is done in the future so that existing utilities can be identified and removed in a timely manner, thereby obviating excessive delays.
Providing the supervision services for Lots 1-3 is MMM Group/CEMCO. The OAG report said that the ministry had requested an extension for the supervisory consultancy up to March 31, 2015 at an additional cost of US$798,822 bringing the revised contract sum to US$2.7 million. At the time of the writing of the report the ministry was awaiting the bank’s no-objection to this.
