Sixteen months after a controversial contract award was made to Tepui Inc, the $870.5m Belle Vue Pump Station has seen very little work and there are reports that a Chinese contractor will be asked to take on the project.
Tepui is helmed by Mikhail Rodrigues, a social media influencer, who had never built a pump station before but has close ties to senior people in the ruling PPP.
A source close to the Belle Vue Pump Station project spoke to Stabroek News about delays and changes in the contractor setup, suggesting that construction on-site has slowed and is now dependent on materials arriving from overseas.