Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn has sent a senior officer in Region Four on leave and has ordered an investigation into the misuse of road works funds after an access bridge at Bee Hive on the East Coast of Demerara was found to be fragile and useless.
The bridge at Bee Hive which has been described as useless. (GINA photo)
The Government Information Agency (GINA) last night reported that Minister Benn, accompanied by Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Kellawan Lall visited the $1.1M bridge after receiving complaints about it.
Benn asked that an examination be done of the bridge by the Ministry’s Chief Engineer who found that the structure was not built to specifications.
“The bridge is not attached to the beams and instead of four inch screws, the contractor substituted three inch screws”, GINA reported the Chief Engineer as saying.
GINA said that the bridge will soon undergo reconstruction by the Ministry of Public Works’ Chief Engineer.
Lall said that the bridge is a regional project and that the Regional Executive Officer should have monitored the progress of construction and it should have been inspected before the contractor was paid.
Benn called on the relevant authorities to indicate to the residents the amount of weight the bridge can accommodate. At present the bridge can only take seven tons, the weight of an empty truck.
It is unclear whether the Region Four administration was part of the visit or had been notified of the decision to send the officer on leave.
This is as a result of not having the qualified personnels in place to deal with the particular task at hand. The Government need to employ qualified people. Some persons were just overnight made contractors without having a clue about their duty(ies) as a contractor.
This is what the RDC of region four is responsible for, can’t wait for local elections.
Nonsense! Why are these infrastructural projects not being monitored from beginning to end? Are there no project managers and quality assurance personnel to monitor progress so as to avoid these embarrassments? This is such a waste of taxpayer’s money.
Realistically! what sort of bridge can a 1.1M build to support and service high capacity vehicles? Benn somehow think straight here by sending the officer on leave but i guess some one was taken and pay the ultimate price for others.
sent home? this official should be fired.
Thank you Minister Benn
Thanks for what? waking up after 17 years of slumber?
What kind of a crappy wood bridge is this?All that is needed here is three 36″deep x 12″ thick reinforced concrete beam across the span , resting on a butress at the two ends,and a 10″ thick reinforced concrete slab on top.What is so hard about this.
PPP giddying up to mek it look like they actually care about people, but we have already wisened up to their shenanigans.
All to no avail I assure you.
Would you vote PPP if you do not vote AFC? Dem byes waan fuh know.
Not voting PPP, they got my vote once and thats it no more, they are a disgrace and a let down to all the people who voted for them.
The AFC leaders are also the first to tell you if they made a mistake unlike the poo poo poo who tries to defend the indefensible, blame it on other people and cower and hide.
Accountability is what we need, if you look at all the issues the AFC raises in parliament and elsewhere their arguments are on solid ground with proper legal and other relevant groundings.
Listen to jagdeo when he explained why they didnt submit the business plan for the money the EU was providing – it is pure hogwash. When you have a leader like that who thinks that everyone are dumber than he is and he is the smart alec that he can say anything and people will just roll over he has to go and the group behind him also needs to exit.
The PPP has to learn a fundamental lesson which is that they will be held accountable. If the PPP loses the next election and they clean up their acts. They will have to reconfigure and come clean on a lot of the illegalities they were involved with .
Answer to my question I am not voting PPP in 2011.
THEY ALL NEED TO BE SENT HOME,DAM-CORRUPTORS
We are told that the the senior officer dealing with this matter in Region Four has been sent on leave!!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT SORT OF LIMP-WRISTED RESPONSE IS THIS??
1 NAME THE SENIOR OFFICER.
2 NAME THE CONTRACTOR.
3 ENSURE THE CONTRACTOR NEVER WORKS FOR THE GOVERNMENT AGAIN.
4 CONSIDER REDRESS THROUGH THE COURTS.
Satish rest yourself, how dem boys gun get dere ting to vote for the ppp in 2011.
Come on man you want dem name dis and name dat, rest up dere yeh.
Satish ! You are right in your outrage. The bridge should be a land mark and a proud infrastructural work in the community.
What fruits will the investigation bear. Will he get jail time.
Some of these guys need to do some time. How was the contract assigned, who write the cheque, who inspected the work? All need to be housed in Camp St.
No wonder this country can’t move forward. Obama said it straight in Ghana today………..stop skimming 20% off the top from loans and grants it belongs to the people of the country, And not because you hold the occasional election, your are deemed to be democratic.