SOME of the major implementation challenges of road projects on the coastland can be alleviated with the establishment of a rental pool for equipment, similar to the Plant Maintenance and Hire Division of the Ministry of Public Works of years ago.

Such a Division would remove the necessity for a contractor to purchase expensive equipment which will only be useful for a single project.
It will also eliminate the delays caused by frequent downtime of malfunctioning equipment owned by contractors and eliminate competition in the cost of construction since contractors will all be bidding using the equipment at the same hire rates.
It will also allow young university engineering graduates and other small contractors to participate in contract work although they may not have the capital to purchase the specialized equipment needed for such work.
The necessity for a rental pool for equipment to facilitate road construction works was the general consensus of engineers who participated in a recent Ministry of Public Works Engineering Conference under the theme: “Defending Guyana’s development with engineering solutions.”
The idea was suggested by Chief Roads and Bridges Officer, Ministry of Public Works, Ron Rahaman during a presentation captioned: “Current Design and Implementation Challenges of Road Projects on the Coastland.”
Rahaman made the suggestion within the context of delays experienced in the implementation of the East Coast of Demerara four-lane extension from Better Hope to Lusignan and the East Bank Demerara four-lane extension which goes from Providence to Diamond.
He observed that there were many occasions when a contractor needed one special equipment which may be owned by another contractor but then he would have to purchase it as he may not have the leeway to get it from that contractor.
“They do that and when they are finished using it, it just ends up sitting there gathering dust,” he said.
SMALL MARKET
A participant observed that what complicated the situation was that locally there was a very small market for road construction.
He said: “To expect contractors to fully equip themselves to perform the kind of projects that we perform every now and then is not an economical proposition.”
He said this is the dilemma that is faced and therefore it is expected that the Government may have a significant management role to play in this regard.
There used to be a Plant Maintenance and Hire Division in the Ministry of Works precisely because of this problem so that smaller contractors can hire equipment since road construction work is highly mechanised.
During the debate by the engineers, the only issue on which there was lack of consensus was whether this endeavour should be a private sector operation or an activity of the Government through the Ministry of Public Works.

By Clifford Stanley