-scheduled to be finished before end of July 2025
The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) on Monday said that the Pouderoyen Pump Station is around 30% completed and is on track for completion before the end of July next year.
It ws responding to a report in Monday’s Stabroek News which said that a visit to the site showed very little sign of progress.
The MoA’s release stated that according to the consultant’s report on September 22, 2024, construction of the $981.2 million pump station commenced in January 2024 and it is scheduled for completion before the end of July, 2025. The report, MoA says, states that the access road leading to the pump station has been completed up to crushed stone level and the site cleared. The report also said that the installation of the greenheart test pile and permanent timber revetments had been completed. Furthermore, a 36” high-density polyurethane tube pipe for drainage to the area north of the sluice was installed while the installation of steel sheet pile permanent revetment north and south of the sluice was also completed.
Construction of a timber access bridge and a temporary timber revetment and excavation works for the pump station, the release further stated, north of the sluice was also completed. Over the next month, the contractor, Spectre Construction Inc., is expected to complete the steel sheet pile revetment and continue the installation of steel sheet piles north of the sluice. De-watering of the excavation pit north of the sluice is also scheduled to take place this month. So far, according to the consultant’s report, the project is approximately 30% completed. The report also asserted that the contractor has been working diligently and is expected to complete the project within the contractual period.
The release noted that last October, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) wrote to the Ministry of Agriculture’s National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) informing the entity that approval had been given for the contract Construction of the Pump Station at Pouderoyen Region No. 3 to be awarded to Spectre Construction Inc.
During a visit to the project site on Friday, there was little evidence of progress for Stabroek News to see.
The $981 million contract for the Pouderoyen pump station was awarded to Spectre Construction last year, with no evidence to suggest that it had built a pump station before. The company has had much smaller government contracts before and these include the construction of a sidewalk for the University of Guyana, and a two-storey building in the Eccles Health Centre compound. Both were awarded in 2022. Under these circumstances, it should not have qualified to be considered for this project.
Opposition Member of Parliament Ganesh Mahipaul had written to the Public Procurement Commission on October 9, last year to request an investigation into the awarding of the contract for the Pouderoyen Pump Station. When contacted for a comment, Director of Spectre Construction Company Dominic Yan had stated in November 2023, that he will not be part of any “propaganda,” and had refused to respond to questions in relation to his company being awarded the contract.
