Following what a company official has called “an innocent mistake,” Vision General Construction Services, which is responsible for the construction of the Eccles Health Centre, will be replacing the incorrect zinc sheets that were used for the project.
The company’s assurance comes in wake of a declaration by Region Four Regional Executive Officer (REO) Pauline Lucas, who has said that she has no intention of paying the contractor unless he rectified the situation.
According to a statement from the Region Four Regional Democratic Council (RDC), Lucas told a recent meeting of councillors that the contractor did not seem interested in correcting the mistake and therefore she had no intention of paying him until he does what his contract states. The firm was awarded the $27 million contract for the construction of the facility, which was slated to be completed by the end of June. Despite being granted extensions, the company has failed to complete the project, which has raised concerns.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, Marlon Andrews, a representative of the company, stated that the incorrect zinc sheets were provided after their purchaser made an innocent mistake with his order.
As a result, approximately 388 square yards of the incorrect zinc sheet was provided. “We are in the process of rectifying the matter and it has to be changed. It’s not a question of whether we will, we know that we have to change and it was an innocent mistake on our part,” he said. The statement also noted that Lucas updated the councillors on the state of the project and had explained that the former engineer, Yogesh Narine, did not hand over all the documents for the project and others after resigning. This, she said, had resulted in the current engineer, Eon Austin, encountering a number of challenges and difficulties.
“Engineer Austin’s work has been made more difficult because when Mr. Narine left the job he had not handed over some documents. For instance, the complete Bill of Quantities and what each items were among a number of others things,” the statement quoted Lucas saying, while noting that she told the meeting that they have put systems in place to rectify the situation.
The statement went on to explain that Lucas told the councillors that the contractor was not issued with any directive to stop or cease work on the building but to remove the wrong zinc sheets that had been placed.
“Recognising that he had the wrong zinc sheets on, I told him that he may proceed with the work on the building but that the zinc sheets had to be changed. He requested a payment but I told him that I cannot pay him unless the work has been examined and verified by the engineer,” Lucas said.
She added that the contractor indicated to her that he had done additional work and would need a payment. As a result, Lucas reportedly related to the contractor that the engineer now assigned to the project is seeking to have some issues clarified with the former engineer in order to determine the status of several issues and would need to visit the site to make a determination of whether their claims of doing additional work were true and justified another payment.
“It was brought to my attention that some of the previous evaluations done by the previous engineer Narine was wrong and this was only brought to my attention after engineer Austin took over the project,” Lucas added.
The statement further stated that she stressed that she will not issue any payment to any contractor without ensuring that all the procedures have been followed and that there is adequate justification for the same.
“While I know that the contractor wants an additional payment, I will not pay any contractor until the zinc sheet is fully changed and engineer Austin would have done a true assessment, a true evaluation of the work that has been done so far. I don’t want at any stage that we would have overpaid any contractor as I have a responsibility and I will ensure that I maintain my position. I have made my position clear to the contractor that he cannot receive any additional payment until he fixes the roof with the zinc sheets, and the engineer would have reviewed and certified the work done,” Lucas declared.
