THE Ministry of Public Infrastructure, in a statement addressing an article that appeared in the Kaieteur daily newspaper, ‘over a $352 million contract awarded to BK International’, said the newspaper failed to take into consideration that there was a change in the scope of work covered by the contract.

The statement noted that the tender considered by the Kaieteur news article was for the construction of 350M of rip-rap revetment, whereas the “scope of work was expanded to cover a 500m stretch of sea defence”, the expansion in scope being deemed necessary given “the severity of the deterioration of the sea defences… of which 200m was breached”.
Kaieteur news in its article published on June 25, noted that the construction company was paid $74 million more than the $278,876,300 it had initially bid for the works, and that the initial bid was the highest among three.

However, according to the ministry’s statement, the contract that was eventually awarded on June 16 was different from a previous restricted tendering process which was initiated in April, 2020, but was later annulled based on the recommendation of the Evaluation Committee.

“The ministry strongly rejects the publication of misinformation regarding the award of the contract. The Kaieteur News article failed to distinguish between two distinct procurement processes which were undertaken, with significantly different scope of works. Several design considerations were also taken into account in the revised scope of works,” the statement said.

BK International was awarded the contract for the project “Construction of Rip Rap Sea Defences at Content, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, Region No. Five”, the project at hand being the ministry’s effort’s to initiate permanent flood protection works along the deteriorating stretch of sea defences between Dantzig and Content, Mahaicony.

The work is among of series or works the Ministry is implementing, that in the immediate future will also include the construction of 500m of rock armour revetment to reinstate critical sections of sea defenses which have progressively degraded due to natural shoreline erosion.

The statement said the news article also failed to adequately recognise the critical nature of the sea defence works, which are being implemented to seal active breaches which have resulted in inundation to agriculture lands and pose severe flood risks to residents of Mahaicony.

“In recent months, the erosion of the Dantzig/Content foreshore has resulted in the depletion of the mangrove fringe, exposing the existing earthen embankment to direct wave attack and repeated overtopping,” the statement said.
“Due to the progression of the erosion along the Mahaicony foreshore, urgent flood protection works are required along an additional three Km of shoreline outside of the current emergency zone,” the statement said.
The measures to be implemented by the ministry in the near future will also include the execution of a number of contracts focused on revetment construction works, maintenance of access dams, construction of critical access bridges and supply contracts to facilitate the delivery of key materials to the sea defence sites.

The target areas for these interventions are located between Content and Belvidere and Fairfield and Zealand, Mahaicony. Arrangements are currently being made to initiate the procurement processes for the execution of these critical works, the ministry said.
During the period April to June 2020, temporary works were undertaken to reinstate heavily-compromised and breached sections of embankment while the requisite procurement and funding arrangements for implementing permanent flood protection works were pursued with the Ministry of Finance.