Even as works have advanced on the controversial Leguan Stelling, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill has reminded the contractor of his June deadline and asked that he speed up.
“We want to see this work doubling up. We want see this work moving fast. It is not what we want it to be right now, because we should have been way ahead of this,”Edghill said on Wednesday during a visit to the worksite.
The stelling on the Essequibo River island of Leguan has been under construction for approximately four years and has faced several setbacks including litigation by the state against the contractor, S. Maraj Contracting Services.
Before the matter reached trial, the parties arrived at a settlement, which led to the contractor being retained and given a six-month extension for the project. The stelling has been under construction since 2019.
On Wednesday, Edghill said that work has slowed due to the unavailability of workers.
Holding the contractor to the timeline, the minister offered to advertise for workers through his Ministry’s Facebook page and with technical institutes.
“I said send us the specifications of what you are looking for and we will advertise and send it to the Board of Industrial Training. And maybe some of the people we have trained would be prepared to come and work on this project,” he said.
The call for workers was posted on the Ministry’s Facebook Page yesterday.
The Public Works Minister nevertheless said that the work done so far “…is a marked improvement of what was happening here. So, basically, we have started to see light at the end of the tunnel and that is a good thing but the works here need to be accelerated.”
The new reinforced concrete section of the stelling will be constructed on 228 pre-stressed concrete piles and will measure some 160 ft by 130 ft.
A new link-span bridge will be incorporated into the structure. It will also facilitate the mooring of the ferry, the off-loading of commodities and the ingress and egress of passengers and vehicles.
The Department of Public Information (DPI) on Wednesday reported that ongoing works are aimed at the completion of the reinforced concrete deck at the northern section, following which the link-span bridge and pontoon will be installed. Work on the concrete deck is currently underway and a portion has already been completed.
All of the rehabilitation work on the existing timber carriageway has been completed and involved the replacement of deteriorated foundation piles.
Deteriorated timber members on the carriageway were replaced and included capping beams, bed planks and running strips, the report said.
The project started out under the previous APNU+AFC government as a rehabilitation of the stelling but as works were executed, defects were identified leading to changes in the bill of quantities. This resulted in a fresh contract for the construction of a new stelling. The contract was however suspended because the procuring agency, T&HD, requested changes to the design of the stelling, and lack of adequate construction materials also hindered the pace of the work. Works to complete the stelling commenced in the last week of December last year.
Edghill had previously said as a public officer and minister, he is embarrassed at the handling of the project. “I am embarrassed at the state of this project. It is one that was inherited but it was one I want to bring to conclusion,” he said.
