A $148M contract for the construction of the access road to the Haags Bosch landfill site has been awarded to H Nauth and Sons contracting firm and was signed at the Ministry of Local Government’s Kingston offices yesterday.
It is expected that the project will be executed and completed in five months. The project will see 2.5 kilometres of road that leads to the East Bank Demerara site being constructed and marks another step towards the operationalizing of the landfill. Permanent Secretary of the Local Government Ministry Sewchan said the ministry will be closely monitoring the project to ensure that there is no lapse. He urged the contractor to deliver work of good quality in a timely manner.
The project is part of a US$18 million loan agreement between the government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the construction of the landfill and falls under Component Three of the six-component programme. H Nauth was the successful bidder out of 11 companies that submitted bids. The duration of the contract is five months and there is a defects liability period of one year.
Project Manager, Walter Willis said the Haags Bosch site will serve in excess of 122,000 households, representing more than half of the population. He said that on June 23, they expect to receive the bids for the construction and operation of the landfill and by July 23, they hope to award the contract, then there will be a one-month mobilization period for the successful contractor. By the middle of August, he said, they hope to have the contractor take possession of the site.
Willis stated that they will also start the partial closure of Le Repentir landfill and are waiting the final ‘no objection’ for the contract from the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, which is expected to be received within two weeks. Cell 2 of that landfill is expected to be closed and it is expected that some dumping will shift from Le Repentir to a temporary cell at Haags Bosch.
Representative for the contractor, Kiran Nauth said the company will try its best to complete the project on time.
Minister of Local Government Kellawan Lall had told the National Assembly In February that the construction of the Haags Bosch landfill site during this year will result in the partial closure of the Mandela landfill site and it would be completely closed by next year. For years now the Mandela landfill site has been problematic with fires including one which broke out just this week.
