THE contract for the execution of modification works on the Parika and Good Hope stellings to facilitate the hassle-free mooring of the soon –to-arrive, new roll-on, roll-off ferries, has been awarded to B.K. International.
The two vessels are already on the high seas en route to Guyana, having departed China aboard a larger vessel on October 27, last, and are expected here early next month.
The vessels were built in China under an agreement with the Government of Guyana.
However, due to the large draft of the boat on which the ferries are being transported, it will be unable to sail to Port Georgetown. As such, arrangement will have to be made for its docking in a deep-water harbour elsewhere, and for the ferries to arrive here by other means.
B.K.International was also responsible for the construction of the roll-on, roll-off facility at Good Hope, which began in March 2006. Upon completion, a section of the facility was deemed to be faulty after collapsing under the weight of heavy vehicles, a mere two days after it was put into operation.
The project, designed by SNC Lavalin and supervised by Vikab Engineering, was initially managed by the Ministry of Local Government.
However, in November 2009, the Ministry of Public Works took over the responsibility. The facility remained unserviceable for several months, during which time there was some amount of wrangling as to who was at fault.
Corrective works were subsequently carried out by the Ministry of Works, using engineers from the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation.
Yesterday, Secretary to the Cabinet, Dr Roger Luncheon, at his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing, was questioned as to rationale behind awarding the contract to the same contractor.
Dr Luncheon, in his response, said “absolutely (there was) no doubt that there was bungling, but like everything else in life, the devil is in the details.”
“It’s not an unusual phenomenon but we have bungling with no bunglers. No-one has accepted a bungled contribution on his part. This is neither the contractor (B.K. International), the associates of the contractor, the superintendent from the Ministry of Local Government and the Ministry of Public Works and Communication, and of course the designers of the civil works.”
“We have about three possible bunglers, neither of which has accepted any responsibility for what unfolded,” he added.