New September deadline for Hope Canal

Leslie Ramsammy

The Hope Canal Project (HCP) has been given a new seven-week deadline for completion once Courtney Benn Contract-ing Services Limited (CBCSL) is able to remain on schedule, Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy says.

Leslie Ramsammy
Leslie Ramsammy

The minister gave the September deadline when he recently appeared before the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources. Given the number of previous deadlines which have had to be abandoned, Stabroek News asked Ramsammy why he would give a commitment once again to which he replied that this is what had to happen. He told Stabroek News after the committee meeting that the reality was that if the contractor complied with the various requests of the ministry then he did not foresee further problems.

He said, “The option is to terminate the contract then I will spend another three months advertising… then the same $100 million work that is left will become $600 million and I still won’t get it till next year.”

He said that the six tranches, devised to help the HCP to become operational cost roughly $40 million each