WORK on the Moruca Bridge, in Region1 (Barima-Waini), has been hindered by inclement weather, but will resume shortly, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Mr. Ganga Persaud, reported Monday.He told the media during a press briefing that the Moruca Bridge has had more than its fair share of problems, due to its being one of those projects whose contractor has a propensity for not only shoddy work, but for not delivering on time as well.

He used the opportunity to apologise, via the media, to Moruca residents, particularly the schoolchildren, for the continued inconvenience caused them by the contractor.
As regards the upgrading of the approach to the bridge, he said that both Cabinet and the Tender Board have approved the request, and the contract has already been awarded. Due to the heavy rainfall of late, however, that bit of work has seen a two-month delay in getting the equipment together.
And, touching on the many complaints he’s received about the substandard work the contractor has done on the revetment, Minister Persaud said: “The ministry went and checked, and saw that the contractor was indeed not keeping within the specification… Then heavy rain came and obstructed those remedial works again, and then school reopened…”
The situation as it now stands, he said, is that the contractor has since sub-contracted the supply of sand, which to residents, seems like he’s clandestinely abandoning the project altogether. “The genuine concern of the citizens was that this guy left the project, because some of his equipment were being removed,” Minister Persaud said.
Conceding that, that particular contract was not properly executed, he said his ministry will be making the necessary interventions in due course.
Meanwhile, the regional administration has been instructed to make the region’s boats available to transport schoolchildren to Church Landing, so as to make it easy for them to get to school. (GINA)