Recently appointed Minister within the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar has bemoaned delays in sealing breaches along the Mahaicony shoreline, which one of the contractors, BK International, claims is partly due to a defect in the design provided to it.
Indar told this newspaper on Saturday that BK International should have recognised the urgent need for works to be done and begun mobilising the necessary materials and resources for its project at Content, Mahaicony.
“The contractor is saying that the delay resulted from not being able to source the right material but my understanding is that this material is being used throughout the country,” he said while stating that an alternative should have been looked at.
During his visit to the breached locations on his second day in office, Indar met with representatives from the two contracting firms, BK International and A&S General Contractors Inc., which were tasked with sealing the breached sections of sea defence.
Ganesh Sawh, Chief Engineer of BK International, informed the Minister that the 500-meter breach at Content should be sealed within 40 to 41 days.
Indar questioned the lengthy duration of the project, which he reminded, has cost millions in losses to farmers along the embankment, the Department of Public Information (DPI) reported.
“The country has already seen the kind of damage that the flood has caused to the farmers in the area. Over 2,000 farmers have lost their livelihood… What we have to do is try to get this area [or] the sea defence here fixed quickly,” the minister emphasised.
DPI reported that a $352 million contract was awarded for rip-rap works in November 2019, but the contractor complained of access to materials. Additionally, it said $105 million was paid in advance despite the fact that the contractor has not performed any mobilisation to date.
However, in a statement in response, BK International denied the claims.
At Content, Mahaicony, BK International said, it is working to seal a 500-metre breach. It quoted Sawh as saying that his team was issued a commencement order on June 22nd, 2020, but there was a fault in the design provided and after an approach to the ministry the correction was made on August 3rd, 2020. It noted that it was awarded $52 million as an advance payment, which represented 15% of the contract cost.
“Sawh said that practical work commenced the very next day. Mobilisation was done even before the contract was awarded based on the instruction from the Ministry,” the statement further said, while claiming that the ministry had approached the company to seal the breach.
To date, the company said, there are 6,000 tonnes of boulders on site and 32 metres were completed within two days. Sawh said that the breach would be sealed within 40 days.
Meanwhile, Indar also noted that the other Contractor A&S General Contractors Inc, which is working at Prospect, has been able to complete rehabilitation work on 1.25 kilometres of approximately 1.6 kilometres of sea defence. The contractor was awarded the contract and BK International was subsequently brought in to support it.
In its statement, BK International said a contract at Dantzig involved the supply and placing of 20,000 tonnes of boulders. It said the company supplied 30,000 tonnes to seal an initial 800-metre breach.
It added that on June 16, 2020, there was an addendum to the contract to extend it to seal a 450-metre breach at a location that spans Dantzig and Glazier’s Lust. The final design of the project is still to be completed but already mobilisation has begun and the contractor has supplied 4,000 tonnes of boulder to the site, it added.
Sawh was quoted as saying that stockpiling of material and mobilisation have already begun despite the absence of the design drawings
There is equipment and other material on this site.
The statement further reported the Managing Director of BK International, Brian Tiwarie, as saying that he has noticed what seems to be a deliberate plan to attack him.
Jermaine Brathwaite, Project Manager at the Ministry’s River and Sea Defence Department, recently told this newspaper that bad weather conditions had contributed to the delay in works. This had prevented workers from moving the needed clay and other materials to the work site.
Indar said that in order to hold the contractors to their commitment to complete the project in a timely manner, the ministry will be conducting daily visits to the site to monitor the progress of the works.
The Mahaicony sea defence for a number of years had been protected by what is termed as a soft defence which is was made up of mangroves and natural shorelines. However, the shoreline has been falling victim to the erosion cycle, resulting in a natural depletion of the mangrove forest and this caused the breaches along the coast.
