Even though a Works Ministry assessment team had failed a section of the East Coast Demerara (ECD) Four Lane extension project, the contractor was allowed to continue the works, which are only 35% complete a little over a month shy of the deadline.
The project is mired in controversy, according to a source, who said that the Works Ministry is likely to terminate the $468M contract given the poor quality of work to date by the Falcon Transportation and Construction Company, and because of that company’s conduct.
Falcon Transportation and Construction Company and Dipcon Engineering started work on Phase One of the project, which began in October last year. Government had previously stated that the works entailed the clearing of the right of way; the laying of a white sand base; the construction of reinforced concrete drains on either side of the road; and the construction of temporary timber bridges at key locations to facilitate access during the construction period between Better Hope and Triumph on the ECD Public Road. Government secured US$900,000 from the Kuwaiti government to prepare the design for the road expansion.
However, while Dipcon Engineering has almost completed its $671M contractual obligation, Falcon Transportation and Construction has only completed 35% of the job on Lot One of the project.
When contacted this week, an official of the West Demerara-based company told Stabroek News that he could not comment on the project. He added that no one from the company would comment on the project.
Several attempts by this newspaper to reach Public Works Minister Robeson Benn for information on the status of the project have proved futile as the calls went to voicemail on several occasions. Attempts to reach government engineer Walter Willis were also unsuccessful.
But according to a Works Ministry source, Falcon Engineering was tasked with constructing drainage systems for the public road between Better Hope and Montrose, ECD, which is Lot One of the project. The company signed a contract valued at $468,214,760 last year with the Works Ministry to execute the works.
Reports are that a team of officials from the Works Ministry visited the site to inspect works undertaken by Falcon Engineering in December last year and during the inspection it was determined that several aspects of the job did not meet the required standard as set out in the project specifications. A reliable source told this newspaper that the company was expected to build concrete drainage structures with a required strength of 45 00 PSI. However, the team discovered that the company was using concrete of a lower level strength.
Unlike Dipcon’s use of prefab concrete structures, which that company sourced from the local manufacturing sector, Falcon Engineering was making its own concrete structures at the works site. This, the source noted, was one of several cost-cutting measures which the company was employing to carry out the project.
The Works Ministry team then used spray paint to mark several parts of the drainage structure to indicate unsatisfactory work. However, several days later, the ministry officials revisited the site and discovered that the construction company had used cement to erase the markings left by the government team. It was also noted that the company was expected to lodge a performance bond which covers the duration of the project. This was done, the source noted; however it only covered 6 months of the 9-month project.
The performance and the conduct of the company have been discussed at the level of the Works Ministry and more recently Office of the President, during a meeting to review of several infrastructural projects undertaken around the country. The meeting was chaired by former president Bharrat Jagdeo, a government source noted, and according to him the performance of Falcon Engineering was included on the agenda. He said that government officials at the meeting called for the contractor’s services to be terminated.
It has also been reported that the contracts of two former senior officials of the Works Ministry’s Work Services Group (WSG) were also discussed and it was noted that their supervision of the project was given as the grounds for the non-renewal of their contracts.
According to the source, since no feasibility study was done for the ECD Four Lane Highway project, additional sums of monies are expected to be sourced by the government to cover expected variations.
This newspaper visited the ECD area last week and residents of Better Hope said that the slow pace at which works were being executed has been affecting them. They said that the construction firm did not cater for the drainage systems which exist within the community, while noting that whenever it rains now, the drains there are usually backed up. They called for an acceleration of works affecting the area.
