– Region Two chairman urges

REGION Two Chairman Devanand Ramdatt is calling for consultations to be held before the execution of any project in the region’s 2018 budget.
Speaking during a recent outreach in Lima Sands, Ramdatt, who was accompanied by councillors of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), raised the issue of accountability and transparency with regard to the awarding of contracts.
The chairman noted his dissatisfaction with two projects that were done under the 2018 budget, pointing out that the works were poor and have been roundly criticised by residents.

“We are not having consultations with the key stakeholders, residents and project beneficiaries, and so that is why engineers are designing projects that do not fit to the desired quality that is expected and they are not monitoring the projects,” Ramdatt said.
Speaking about the Lima Sands Road, Ramdatt said the entire walkway was poorly designed and he is not blaming the contractor, but the Regional Tender Board and engineers. The tender board and engineers were written on the matter, but no corrective action has been taken, the chairman said.

“At the early stage, even when I call and write the REO, corrective measures should have been taken. Residents are not pleased this road will collapse anytime, the road is too narrow and the road shoulders will eventually deteriorate,” he said.
Other councillors at the outreach said the project at Lima Sands received an engineer’s tender estimate of $8.2 M, but was awarded to a bidder for $5.2M.
“So when this happens, substandard work will be done; the road needs to be straightened, no consultations were done with residents, no one gave their opinion, government councillor Hardat Narine said.

Another government councillor Naithram, said the road is inferior as it does not cater for heavy machinery traffic.

Naithram said that as it is, the road is not suitable for the community and eventually it will collapse. The other project to which the chairman referred was a bridge built in the area, which was poorly designed and does not cater for vehicular traffic.
The bridge was built close to a resident’s home, rather than on the government’s reserve and old piles affected by termites were used in the construction.
The councillors are calling for consultations with residents before any project is executed to avoid poor work on public infrastructure