MINISTER of Public Works, Juan Edghill, has written to Guyana’s Auditor-General (AG), Deodat Sharma, requesting that a forensic audit be conducted into the construction of pedestrian overpasses along the East Bank of Demerara corridor.

Citing several defects, Edghill does not believe that Guyana got “value for money”, especially since millions have been expended and various aspects of the project remain incomplete. The minister, in his request to the AG, made specific reference to the inoperable elevators attached to the overpasses.

Following the construction of the overpasses, a decision was taken to outsource the installation of the accompanying elevators to a Trinidadian company called RBP lifts. The lifts were manufactured by Cibes Lifts GP, with funding for the overall project coming from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

In his letter to the AG, Edghill explained that the elevators, which were purchased from RBP Lifts by the contractors, arrived in Guyana in February 2018. The installation commenced in June 11, 2018. Later, on October 12, 2018, the elevators were commissioned by the supplier, RPB Lifts, with the maintenance period commencing on November 1, 2018 for the period of one year.

“Personnel identified by the DHBC (Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation) were trained in the operation and maintenance of the elevators, by the local representative for the elevator supplier, Mr. Thaddeus De Freitas,” Edghill noted in the letter.

The minister said that the four quarterly maintenances were undertaken by Mr. De Freitas, in collaboration with the aforementioned trained personnel. During the period from October 12, 2018 to August 17, 2019, the DHBC did not operate any of the elevators in accordance with prior agreements, leaving the elevators closed and unused.
“Also, during this period, several incidents of vandalism occurred including the cutting and damaging of cables, theft of lights, broken side glasses and an elevator door. In all of these incidents the ministry carried out the repairs and replacement of the damaged items as DHBC could not provide any video footage of these incidents,” the correspondence highlighted.
The pedestrian overpass elevators at Peter’s Hall were subsequently commissioned in August 2019, but would soon develop a series of technical problems, which resulted in persons being stranded in the structure. The news of this attracted much attention of social media.

With the defects liability period still intact, the then Public Infrastructure Minister had reached out to technician, De Freitas, who was only able to rectify a few of the problems plaguing the elevators. Soon after the incident of persons stranded in the elevator, manufacturers of the structure Cibes Lifts GP dispatched a technical team to inspect and repair the defunct equipment, but the repairs did not hold and after a short period, the problems resurfaced. De Freitas of the Trinidadian company attempted to fix the problems once more, but failed.
Edghill said that in February 2020, the DHBC had completely halted operations of the Peter’s Hall elevator. To date, the other overpass elevators at Houston, Eccles, Providence and Diamond, remain defective.

“It is in light of the foregoing, that Minister Edghill requested the forensic audit, since he believes that the government did not get value for money in relation to the installation and operation of these five elevators,” the minister concluded.

The construction of the overpasses was intended to provide safe crossing for pedestrians along the traffic-riddled thoroughfare. The decision to install elevators was taken as a means of catering for those who may be differently-abled, or have other challenges climbing stairs of the overpasses. The project was undertaken with the supervision of former Public Infrastructure Minister, David Patterson.