– contractors rapped for ‘shoddy’ work
The University of Guyana (UG) Turkeyen Campus yesterday announced that classes for the new academic year will begin on November 24.
Following the successful completion of an asbestos removal exercise that delayed the start of the new school year, university staff have been relocated to the campus, while student registration will begin this week. But the contractors who carried out the removal exercise are being criticised for shoddy work: leaving exposed cables and electrical wires, shaky walls and malfunctioning light switches that have raised concerns about the readiness of some campus buildings for the resumption of classes.
The Turkeyen Campus was closed on July 1, to facilitate an asbestos removal exercise.
Dean of School of Education and Humanities and Head of UG’s public relations office Al Creighton yesterday told reporters that student registration will commence on Thursday, while the ceremonial opening of the university will be held next week Friday. Classes at the campus will begin on the following Monday.
Some faculties have been holding classes for the new academic year at off-campus locations in the intervening period.
Creighton also announced that UG’s Tain Campus will hold its graduation ceremony for its students on November 29, while the Turkeyen campus will hold its graduation on December 13.
Although he spoke of the campus returning to normalcy, members of the UG Asbestos Technical Team bemoaned the work done by the contractors over the past few months, saying that some of the buildings were left in a state that now required remedial work.
Head of the team Melvin Sankies reported that the $200M provided by the Ministry of Education for the removal exercise had been utilised and more money would have to found for the remedial work on campus buildings. He said a team has been assembled and its members will now have to inspect the entire campus and assess the work that needed to be done.
Patrick Etwaru, another member of the technical team, said that the some of the telephone cables were ripped out and the electrical network was damaged by the contractors. “A lot of things were interrupted because of shoddy workmanship,” he said.
According to head of the student’s body, Jason Benjamin, electrical wires and other cables will have to be replaced. Although he said students were happy to return to campus, he described the situation as “chaotic” and expressed concerns for student safety.
While UG could invoke liability clauses in the contract to ensure the contractors carry out the necessary remedial work, Sankies said it had had “enough of them” and he was glad to see their backs. He said it was preferable for the work to be done by the university’s team, though it might mean returning to the ministry for additional funding. He said if his team were in charge of the project, four weeks could have been cut out of the duration of the exercise.
According to Sankies, there were some difficulties in the sanitisation of the campus as the contractors were conditioned not to do certain things. He said that after some hesitation the ministry agreed for the floor to be lacquered, although in the end it was painted with rubberised paint, which was acceptable. However, the painting of the wall that was also requested was not done.
Etwaru described the work done by the contractors as very poor and shoddy and he said this was compounded by poor supervision. He added that when the contractors worked on the ceilings they ripped out the support level for some of the walls, which have been left shaking. Some doors were also damaged and were not fixed. Etwaru said he observed the poor work of the contractors on many occasions and brought it to the attention of the ministry. In some cases, crowbars were used to remove asbestos — a method Sankies called unsafe.
Normalcy
Meanwhile, Creighton told reporters that the relocation of the staff members to the campus has been largely completed. But he said that the library, which he called a vital part of the university, was not in a state of readiness. He said while there were a number of problems during the removal exercise, the ministry was open to suggestions by the administration during their meetings.
Notwithstanding the need for remedial work, Creighton said things would be back to normal and he assured that the campus will be ready for students on November 24. As a result of the delayed start, the first semester of the academic year will be extended into the new year. He explained that lectures will be held right up to December 22, when there will be a short break, before classes resume in January and continue until the end of semester examination. The second semester will start shortly after and Creighton did not anticipate any problem in the completion of the academic year.
He called on current and new students to ensure that they know when they have to register. He also cautioned prospective graduates to check with their faculties to verify their profiles and whether they need to write any supplementary examinations.
While the university lost some staff during the last year, according to Creighton, it was in numbers similar to that of previous years. He assured that the resignation of staff members was not as a result of the asbestos problems and noted that while some resigned, others retired and the university has been working on filling the vacancies. Creighton said the university was not self sufficient, admitting that it was under funded. In fact, he said funding remains its biggest problem and pointed out that it did not pay its staff members as much as they deserve.
UG Workers Union representative Bruce Haynes noted that there has been a temporary freeze on the hiring of some administration staff members, putting a burden on the current staff. “They are suffering… because they are not operating at full capacity,” he explained.
Sankies added that the university needs a full time safety officer. Although a proposal has been done for the position there has been no word on whether anyone would be hired.
