Labour and materials shortages are being blamed for significant delays in the construction of the Bamia Primary School which was controversially awarded to a company of entertainers and sports persons with no prior experience.
The Linden project which comes under the Ministry of Local Government is now some four months behind schedule.
The new building to house the school is scheduled to be completed in the latter part of 2024.
When Stabroek News visited the construction site yesterday, minor progress was observed since this newspaper visited last year. Works progressed from just the foundation frame to walls going up on the lower flat and construction of the septic tanks. Workers at the site were also preparing form boards to cast the beams for the upper flat, portions of the land were backfilled with sand and construction of the gymnasium building has commenced. Walls for the gymnasium are presently being put in place.
Stabroek News understands that due to the unavailability of materials, works were scaled down and it was only recently the pace of work increased.
“We had some serious challenges. We are not on schedule but the work is now picking up back,” Akanni Blair, Quality Control Manager at the construction site said. He told Stabroek News that with the ongoing construction boom in the country there is a shortage of labour and materials. This, he explained has affected their work as other major projects ongoing in the region have absorbed the available workers.
According to Blair, due to the difficulties in sourcing materials in a timely manner, workers who were previously available sought employment with other companies. “We didn’t had materials on time and workers went to other places to work. Every project has labour challenges. We had to bring workers from Berbice,” he explained. The contracted company St8ment Investment Inc., has 38 employees on site including those from Berbice. Blair noted that apart from being challenged by labour, they also found difficulty in sourcing aggregates. He said this has been a major challenge as it prevented them from casting columns and beams for the second floor of the building. It was only last week they were able to source 150 tonnes of stones and plyboard to commence works on the beams.
Spiked
Since the discovery of oil in 2015, the cost of stone gradually increased and spiked in 2021. Government had attributed the steep increase to the infrastructural and construction boom that has seen high demand for such building materials since it took office in 2020. This, it noted, can be coupled with the gradual reopening of the economy, which had seen a slowdown due to the restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This newspaper recently reported that persons have responded to government’s call to supply stone and some are sourcing the commodity from Jamaica. “The ministry and government had indicated that we needed stone and crusher run. That went out by way of public ads. Companies from Guyana have engaged in the procurement and delivery of stone to Guyana at a particular price. Some of them were buying from Suriname but some are now buying from Jamaica. People who responded to our public ad are bringing in stone and some is from Jamaica,” Public Works Minister Juan Edghill told this newspaper. He was commenting on the shortages faced across the country at the time.
Edghill said that although some quarries have increased their capacity, it is still not enough and that while some others may have the potential, transportation seems to be an issue. “They have increased their capacity and it is still not sufficient enough to meet the current demands for aggregate and crusher run. The basic thing here is not only being able to find the stone, it is the logistics. The biggest issue in the supply of crusher run is the supply; the barging. That is the issue and the issue is the logistics,” he said. Nevertheless, Blair stated they were set to begin casting the beams and columns for the upper floor.
Blair also said that the availability of cement and sand also fluctuated during the past months. “Every project has that challenges. We had cement supply fluctuating. No availability of plyboard and stone. So we had to put in orders two to six months in advance and make cash payments to get materials,” Blair lamented. In December, St8ment Investment principal, Rawle Ferguson, said that they had completed at least 35% to 40% of works. At that time, he explained that they were still challenged with the supply of sand steel, and stone, due to the high demand around the country.
Severe
The awarding of the contract to Sta8ment Investment to construct the school has faced severe criticism as the company not only lacks the track record of large scale construction for public use but it also faced a backlash from civil society as it was only incorporated in March of 2021 (eight months prior to being awarded the contract) and its principals were heavily involved in the entertainment and sports industry. The project is being undertaken under the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and in July of last year, the bids were opened.
Four companies – Bulkan Timber Works Inc., ($349,595,065), St8ment Investment Inc., ($346,327,748), Orin’s Supreme Enterprise ($348,726,772), and A Nazir & Son Con-tracting & General Supplies ($340,549,671) – tendered for the project. St8ment, with the second-lowest bid, received the contract in November of 2021 which was signed by the principals of the company and Regional Executive Officer, Dwight John. The project was expected to last for 20 months and is intended to benefit almost 800 students. A one-year defects liability period, after the completion of works, is catered for.
Based on the original expected duration of the project, the school should be completed around June next year. Works were stalled for over two months with no explanation provided to the Regional Democratic Council in Region 10. Some $68 million had been paid over to the contractor. Around 10 months after the contract was awarded, this newspaper visited the site and it was evident that works had stalled. The steel on the foundation was already corroding and a large chunk of the foundation was yet to be completed. Stabroek News also observed that apart from a few wheelbarrows and a concrete mixer, there was no other equipment on site.
St8ment Investment Inc.,’s principals are Ferguson and Kerwin Bollers of Hits and Jams Entertainment, along with Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major and Kashif Muhammed of the Kashif and Shanghai football tournament. The latter two have been appointed by the PPP/C government to state run boards, with Major as Chairman of the Guyana Tourism Authority, while Muhammed was appointed Chairman of the National Sports Commission.
