IN an effort to alleviate serious issues plaguing marine vessels, which ply various routes across the country, the Ministry of Public Works will be embarking on a comprehensive maintenance programme which will see a number of local ferries going into “dry dock” for routine rehabilitation.
Earlier this month, the ministry, via its Transport and Harbours Department, issued invitations for persons to bid for the contract to rehabilitate the MV Kimbia, which currently operates the Georgetown to Northwest, Region One (Barima-Waini) route.
The vessel was hauled in recently for critical repairs, following the detection of a hole in the ship’s bow. Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill, had said then that emergency repairs were executed by Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC), at a cost of more than $16 million.
The minister had said that the cost of the works had exceeded the ministry’s expectations due to the severity of damages to the vessel.

“We had that major hole, and when we went down there, it was more than we expected; it was expensive work,” Edghill said.
He further attributed the high cost of repairs to the former administration’s failure to adhere to the maintenance requirements for the vessels.
“A vessel needs to go into dry dock and do routine maintenance every specified period; the reason why we ended up with the emergency the other day was because they (the former Ministry of a Public Infrastructure) did not keep the routine for a significant period, so this is routine rehabilitation, maintenance,” Edghill explained on Wednesday. He said that the vessels will be taken into dry dock one at a time, so as to eliminate the possibilities of hindering travel operations.
“When the Kimbia goes in, the Barima got to pick up the slack,” Minister Edghill related.

Prior to the emergency repairs in January, the MV Kimbia went into dry dock in 2015, and only came back out in 2019. At that time, some $488 million was set aside for repairs. At the time of recommissioning, the then Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, had said that the repairs were outsourced to Courtney Benn Contracting Services Limited. Recent investigations done by the current People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration revealed that the former A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) had been sole-sourcing and paying the company millions for incomplete and, in some cases, flawed works. The probe had determined that the company was paid in excess of $610 million to execute repairs on a few other vessels, but to date, no works have been done on any.  When the Dr. Irfaan Ali-led government assumed office in August 2020, the ministry launched a wide and extensive investigation into a number of outstanding infrastructural projects flagged by the Office of the Auditor General. So far, incomplete works on at least three vessels remain the most significant of all the highlighted projects.

Nonetheless, in an effort to increase the efficiency of water transport to and from Region One, the government recently inked a $2.6 billion contract with Garden Reach Shipbuilders Engineers Limited from India, for the construction of an ocean-going passenger and cargo vessel to replace the MV Kimbia.
That new ferry, which is expected to be built and shipped to Guyana within 18 months, is being financed through a line of credit and an accompanying grant from the Government of India. This was secured by the Donald Ramotar administration, prior to the May 2015 General and Regional Elections.
Once the monies for the vessel have been expended on the project, the savings will be directed towards the construction of new stellings in Region One, namely at Morawhanna, Kumaka, and Port Kaituma. Overall, the 2021 national budget has $500 million for the rehabilitation of the M.V. Malali, M.V. Makouria and M.V. Kimbia, respectively.