The Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region 10 says it is continuing its pursuit of answers as to what caused the collapse of the drains at Silvertown and into the continued award of contracts via waiver of Tender Board procedures.
In a post on its Facebook page yesterday, the RDC said this is especially in relation to contracts awarded to contractors who deliver sub-standard work.
The Council said that it had in months past written to the Head of the Regional Tender Board, Regional Executive Officer, Dwight John and copied the Ministry of Finance and the National Procurement and Tender Administration querying why waivers to Tender Board procedures were being applied to a significant portion of the RDC’s contracts. This, the RDC said, effectively allowed contractors to be handpicked, denying others the chance to bid for contracts. No response has been forthcoming to date, the RDC said.
The RDC posted on its Facebook page, a December 1st letter it sent to John querying the assigning of contracts to Daniel Sugrim of D&R Construction Machinery Rental whose work has been called into question.
The December 1st letter signed by Region 10 Chair Deron Adams expressed dismay at the award of contracts to Sugrim even after the RDC flagged concerns at the construction of drains at Third Alley which were “constructed above the level of the surrounding properties, effectively denying them any drainage access”.
After this contract came to a halt because of the objections raised by residents, Adams said that Sugrim was then awarded a contract to construct the Silvertown drains which have now collapsed.
Adams said that the Public Works Committee of the council and its engineer had visited the project on May 20th, 2021 and raised serious concerns at the construction work being done.
“As Chairman, I myself visited this project and engaged the residents there, who pointed out the shoddy work being done on the shoulders of the road as well as concerns at the drains being built…”, Adams wrote.
Even after the council had registered its “gravest concerns” at the awarding of contracts through the waiving of tender board procedures, Adams wrote in the letter that John went ahead and awarded another contract to Sugrim for the extension of the DeVeldt Primary School worth over $11m.
“The Regional Democratic Council would like to receive in writing your justification for the continued award of contracts when the (shortcomings) of this contractor is apparent and steps have not yet been taken to address these shortcomings”, as well as why the Tender Board continues to waive tender procedures to make awards to this contractor and others who have been flagged similarly”, Adams wrote.
He asked for a response before Thursday’s statutory meeting of the council (December 2nd). There was no response.
The Council says it intends to continue its investigation of these projects with a view of obtaining answers to these queries even if they have to be sought from the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament or the Office of the Auditor General.
