The Region 10 council has rejected an explanation from its Regional Executive Officer (REO), Dwight John that the collapse of a retaining wall at Silverttown was not the fault of the contractor.
John, had been written to by the Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice Council, and asked to explain how a retaining wall that was built to support a road upgrade in Silvertown, Linden, collapsed.
The REO was additionally asked to justify the continuous award of contracts to the same construction company.
In response, the REO explained to Councillors at the Region 10 meeting that the collapse of the retaining wall was not the fault of the contractor. Clarifying this statement with Stabroek News on Sunday, John said that the area in which infrastructural road upgrades is being undertaken, is “technical” given that it is prone to flooding, and many springs are located in the area. While the reconstruction of the retaining wall was completed, the project is not finished as the construction firm, D&R Construction and Machinery Rental, is currently waiting for the concrete to cure before back filling. John further opined that “The contractor is not an issue and he is not producing substandard work but the area where he is working is technical…” he said.
However, Adams, on Sunday rebutted John’s explanation and stated that “no reason was given for the collapse.” “It was not the contractor’s fault, we were told, because that scope of works [the retaining wall] was not a part of the project. The contractor had to put that in to support the construction of the road. Nevertheless, it was substandard work, and we as a council, cannot understand how [the collapse] is not the contractor’s fault,” Adams told this newspaper. He pointed out that they [the Council] have been receiving frequent calls from residents of Third Alley, Wismar, over the drains and the road presently being constructed there.
The Regional Chairman further stated that it is unclear to him and his Council, why this contractor, Daniel Sugrim, who he said has been producing problematic work is being allowed to conduct works in the region. “He is not from this region but he is getting multiple works [projects]. At a meeting with Ministers, Juan Edghill and Nigel Dharamall, the methodology they said that will be used is for locals to benefit from 70% of the work works in the region,” Adams stressed as he indicated that this is not the case.
Stabroek News has attempted to contact Sugrim over the claims about his work to no avail.
Adams, during a visit to the construction site, said residents complained of the shoddy works being done on the shoulders of the road. He said residents pointed out that the width of the road was reduced, and the drains that were being constructed, were too narrow. At Third Alley, Wismar, the contractor constructed drains above the level of surrounding properties, defying the purpose of the drains in the area. After this contract came to a halt, because of objections raised by residents, Adams said that Sugrim was thereafter awarded another contract to construct the Silvertown drains which have now collapsed. The contractor was awarded a third contract for the extension of the DeVeldt Primary School, to the tune of $11 million.
Sugrim’s company was flagged by the Regional Engineer during a visit in May, over the quality of works that were being delivered in Silvertown, where the street was being paved and the contractor was tasked with building 600 meters of retaining wall to support the road works. In his letter [to the REO], Adams also pointed out that at another project site, the said contractor delivered substandard work and it was not corrected. The Council said that it had in months past written to John, who is the Head of the Regional Tender Board, and copied the Ministry of Finance and the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board 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 Department of Public Information on Thursday reported that the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development had taken note of the defective works.
