FOLLOWING poor construction works conducted on the Supply Health Centre to remedy the issue of constant flooding, a $32M worth re-construction project is scheduled to commence within a few weeks, reopening the Centre’s services on the East Bank of Demerara (ECD).
Since 2018, an initial attempt was made to rectify the building’s foundation to fix the problem but this proved to be futile as the necessary specifications were not adhered to by contractors.

Now, a new tender is being evaluated by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) and is expected to be awarded within the next two weeks.
The funding for the project comes from the Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Regional Democratic Council (RDC) through the Government.

“We’re trusting that sometime in the month of May that project can commence,” said Regional Executive Officer (REO) Pauline Lucas.

She noted that the building’s foundation, built years ago, could not be raised and the RDC is well aware of the potential hazards associated with a wet or slippery floor.
“The building of itself was very low, and what we found happening is that whenever there is high tide around that area, somehow or the other water seeps into the building,” Lucas said.

“When it rains heavily or there is some kind of flooding for some reason, it always seeps into the building and you would find that the floors would be wet ever so often.”
Presently, the services of the health center have been transferred to the upper flat of the Soesdyke Health Center which was not previously occupied.

Meanwhile, other persons are diverting to the Craig Health Center for assistance.
Through funding from the government last year, the RDC went through the process of having the contract awarded but the contractors did not stick to the specifications which led to complications.

After several rounds of discussions, the contract was terminated following the contractor’s refusal to dismantle both the foundation and a column built.

“He did not want to dismantle the foundation and he said that he can do some remedial works and I said ‘no, we can’t play with the foundation. If you don’t come correct I will not allow it because we’re talking here about children using [the facility] and it would be unfair to the people of this Region’,” Lucas recounted.

The contract was finally terminated in January 2019 with discussions having commenced since late 2018.

Such shoddy work being conducted in the Region has caused the RDC to remind contractors that they must ‘step up to the plate’ and deliver or have their contracts be terminated.

Head of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Works Committee, Earl Lambert stated last week that it had become common for contractors to bid for several projects within various regions and not being able to complete them on time.

This, he said, is owed primarily to a shortage of workforce or technical equipment.
“We can’t have projects that have been given out and not completed and six months would have passed. It means that action would have to be taken and you can’t be annoyed with us when those actions would have been taken,” Lambert stressed.

Meanwhile, Lucas has reassured contractors that the delay experienced in the past regarding their payments had been rectified and, therefore, there should be no future excuse for untimely or poor works.