THE contractor working on the Hope Canal’s outfall sluice, the eight-gate sluice at the canal’s Atlantic end, at a meeting last Saturday with Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy was asked to submit a plan to address the construction challenges, yesterday.

However, up to 17:00 hrs yesterday the report on the revised plan to meet the December 31 construction deadline was not submitted.
In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, yesterday, Ramsammy said his suggestion was the use of sub-contractors to ensure that the work is completed, but a final decision will depend on the contractor’s report.
“I have asked if we can finish and meet the December 31 deadline and the contractor has said yes,” he said. “What is clear is that there has to be a different arrangement than the one we have right now to ensure that we have the work done,” Ramsammy said.
The minister noted that currently work on the outfall sluice is at 50 per cent and at the current pace work is not likely to be finished on time.
Ramsammy added that the other three components of the Hope Canal project are progressing well: the over 10-kilometre channel from the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) is 90 per cent complete; the bridge across the public road is 80 per cent complete; and the conservancy head regulator with three gates is 75 per cent complete.
According to him, the pace of work on the head regulator is encouraging and given the normal rainy pattern, work should be finished to meet the December 31 deadline.
The minister stated that work on the bridge across the public road, according to the contractors, is affected by difficulties with supply of materials.
As it relates to progress with the canal, Ramsammy said the actual digging is almost complete.
However, he noted that work on the canal cannot be taken all the way to the conservancy until the head regulator is ready to function.
: “If we do this, the conservancy will cause flooding, so we have to wait until the regulator is functional. One kilometer of canal still to be dug at that end and another kilometer is to be completed at the bridge, but this also cannot be done until the bridge is operational, because the canal has to be dug through there,” Ramsammy offered.
He pointed out too that the dams still have to be shaped, because shaping cannot be done until the dirt is sufficiently compressed, work that is 40 per cent completed to date.
Asked about the possibility of contractors going over the December 31 deadline, the Minister stressed that this will not be tolerated.
Ramsammy said: “The contracts have a liquidated damages clause. We have extended the contract at least twice so far and yes it was a difficult project, there is no doubt about that, but I also believe that the contractors could have completed their work.
“We have been flexible and have worked with the contractors, so no contractor could say we have been unreasonable if we enforce liquidated damages clause.
“The Government is not unreasonable. We should be at a stage where the channel is functioning, at a stage where 98 per cent completion is what we accept. The state of work cannot be at 70 and 80 per cent, when it should be at 100 per cent.”
Construction on the project began in February 2011, with an estimated 18 months for completion and the deadline for the project was initially set for June of this year, but was subsequently extended to the end of August, and then once again extended to December 31.
The US $15M Hope Canal project which is expected to be the answer to the flooding experienced in the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary areas during rainy periods.

(By Vanessa Narine)