The Ministry of Public Works will today be discussing penalties against contractor BK Inter-national after it was yesterday discovered that only 15% of sea defence work at Plantation Andrews in Region Two has been completed even though 70% of the $124M contract was paid out.
Following complaints from residents of surrounding areas and Plantation Andrews of flooding, Minister in the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar yesterday visited the area to assess the situation and check on sea defence works that should have been completed.
Indar told the Stabroek News that he was “shocked and troubled” at what he saw since only 15% of the 1000 ft contract area was done.
“Everything seems to be behind schedule everywhere we go to assess. This was a contract to be completed since last year August and we are in another year and it isn’t completed. They paid them 70% of the money and they are behind with only 15% of works. What is that?” he questioned.
“I am going to sit with the team tomorrow, go over the contract and see what is. This is not good, it is not good! We cannot continue like this. We will look at the contract and we will take some steps,” he added.
However, the contractor says that all the materials and machinery, except for the sand, are on site and that works were delayed because the Amerindian community that the sand is sourced from was closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
In addition, BK spokes-person Adam Harris told this newspaper that sand will also be sourced from another community and a commitment was yesterday given that the works will be completed by the end of January. ”COVID caused a shift in the deadline. All the materials are onsite. The work is going on. What the video shows is not the work site. All the materials are there. The project will be finished by the end of this month,” he said.
The company will today conduct a visit of the area as its owner and Chief Executive Officer Brian Tiwarie says that the area shown on social media by Indar isn’t the contracted area and he wants the public to see that all materials are on site.
The contract for 1000 ft of rip-rap sea defence works at Plantation Andrews was awarded in November of 2019 and the contract signed on the 31st of December 2019. The commencement date was stated as January 21st 2020 and the completion date as August 7th 2020.
Indar said that a similar situation has been seen at Dantzig on the East Coast of Demerara where monies were paid to the same contractor for sea defence works and these have not been completed. To add to the woes of the residents, he said that the farming community was flooded out, costing residents large sums in losses.
“It was the same thing at Dantzig and those people were flooded and ended up losing so much. We cannot continue like this,” the minister stressed.
During the visit to Essequibo yesterday, Indar also took to Facebook to highlight the situation as he expressed his disappointment.
“I want to say this clearly. This contract here is being undertaken by BK International. When I first come into government, I went to Dantzig area. It was the same thing. This particular contractor has had contracts that hurt farmers in that area… their lands were flooded out. The same thing will happen here if they don’t finish their job. Stern actions will be taken against the contractor. The contactor has breached its timeline and only 15% (work has been) completed so far.
“The entire coastline with regards to sea defence is vulnerable. We put the budget areas we find most vulnerable and we find only 15% of this area is completed. This rip-rap is to help that and it cannot be done. BK International again has been defaulting on its works and we can’t continue to have this. We can’t use taxpayers’ money to fund vulnerable areas and see it is not being completed on time. The lack of care for residents here is alarming to me and I intend to take stern action against this particular contactor because I have seen it too many places,” he added.
