$7.3B in projects ongoing in Region Six
-President dissatisfied with implementation
Berbice, GINA, June 24, 2006
Head of State, President Bharrat Jagdeo has registered disappointment over the implementation of projects in Region Six for which government is spending more than $7.3B.
At a media conference shortly after a Cabinet meeting in Region Six today as part of the Cabinet outreach, President Jagdeo said, “Although we don’t aggregate the figures because we see individual projects, when we aggregate the figures, they sum up to sizeable sums. Our total spending here is $7.3B in contracts and these have already been awarded in this region. That excludes the Skeldon Modernisation Project which is $32 B or more than US160M and it also excludes construction of the Berbice River bridge project as well as the electricity programme. You can see for yourselves what’s happening in this region.”
Other projects, President Jagdeo said, are $860M for housing infrastructure. He also noted that government is funding the construction of 19 streets in Corriverton, 20 in Rose Hall and 50 in New Amsterdam.
“I must confess I am not pleased with the work of the contracts and contractors just sitting on the projects and are not performing in some cases.”
The President stated that government intends to push the agencies that are supervising many of these contracts as well as the regional administration to ensure that they are completed in a timely manner and that they meet required standards.
He noted that prime examples of contractors’ delinquency are the Black Bush Polder and Mara roads. Government allocated $192M and $109M respectively for the two roads. However, these projects, even after being awarded for months, are still incomplete.
“The contractors keep saying that there is a shortage of stone but I don’t think that enough effort is being put into getting the work done.”
President Jagdeo agreed that there is a shortage but he noted that many times contractors use it as an excuse. He also noted that government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on an electricity programme, as well as $50M on the drainage and irrigation programme that is providing employment for 652 persons.
He also disclosed that at Corriverton, government will be building a water treatment plant at a cost of $1.2B as the administration has received approval for the funding. Similar plants were built at Port Mourant, Rose Hall and New Amsterdam. The Corriverton project is expected to start later this year.
Government will also spend $80 M on the Port Mourant market.
Meanwhile, President Jagdeo said that Phase one of the Moleson Creek to New Amsterdam road project has started and the Berbice River Bridge contract has already been awarded as well. He noted that both private sector and government spending will amount to about $43 B.
“If you look at all of these things you can see the amount of resources we are spending in this region. It is significant. This excludes spending of the NDC. But we still have to ensure that these things are done for the benefit of people and we still have issues with implementation and quality of work and in some cases corruption.”
President Jagdeo also said that government has deployed four excavators to Region Six at a cost of $120M as part of its programme to improve drainage and irrigation to avoid a recurrence of flooding.
The President indicated that when all of these developmental works are completed, Region Six will be transformed.
Among other projects ongoing in Region Six are upgrading of hospitals. The Skeldon Hospital will be upgraded next year.
Government, with assistance from the Cuban Government, is also building an Opthalmology centre at Port Mourant. President Jagdeo noted that the designs are presently being done for that project.
“I see this as major improvement for Region Six,” the Head of State said.
TOP
Moleson Creek to New Amsterdam Road project starts
- Bids came in too high for second phase-President Jagdeo
Georgetown, GINA, June 24, 2006
The Government of Guyana may have to consider re-tendering for Phase Two of the Moleson Creek to New Amsterdam Road in Region Six (East Berbice/ Corentyne) since the previous tender attracted a cost above the funding provided.
This was explained today by Head of State, President Bharrat Jagdeo at a post-Cabinet outreach media conference at the Skeldon Estate Sports Complex.
According to the President, Government will have to decide whether it will re-tender or seek funding for the additional costs since the contract sum of US$4M is higher than the sum provided.
Meanwhile, he announced that the first phase has started and the contactor is mobilising materials. This phase entails taking the roadway up to Number 34 and will cost government US$17M.
The project is a government commitment to enhance the local road network and is a continuation of the resurfacing of the road from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Timehri to the Berbice River ferry crossing.
It entails installing street lights, enhancing drainage along the roadway and erecting road signs.
The contract was advertised by the National Tender and Administration Procurement Board in 2005 for US$40M, financed through a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The loan agreement was signed in June 2005.
President Jagdeo expressed hope that the resurfacing would start soon since the existing road is deteriorating.
Government had allocated $42.5M for road maintenance from New Amsterdam to Moleson Creek under the routine maintenance management programme.
The resurfacing of the road from Moleson Creek to New Amsterdam is in addition to the Bridges project which costs $22M and also entails resurfacing of the Timehri Road.
The road from New Amsterdam to Moleson Creek will see approximately 86 kilometres of road being resurfaced and about 80 structures along the route being done.
Feasibility studies were completed for resurfacing the road.
TOP
Multi- million dollar technical institute commissioned at Corriverton
Georgetown, GINA, June 24, 2006
Residents of Upper Corentyne now have a chance to access training in vocational skills in their home community.
President Bharrat Jagdeo and Minister of Education Dr. Henry Jeffrey on June 24 commissioned the multi-million dollar Upper Corentyne Industrial Training Centre which cost government $145M.
According to President Jagdeo, the facility will make a difference in the lives of those who attend. In June 2002, the Head of State promised to provide funding for the facility after it was decided by stakeholders that there was need for a technical institute in the area.
Construction of the institution began in 2003 by Rafeek and Sons Construction Company. The project was slated to cost $133M but there was a $12 M variation cost during construction. The consultants were VICAB Engineering.
The sod was turned in 2003 and the construction was completed on August 31, 2004. However, it was not fully furnished hence classes began on January 1, according to the institute’s Administrator Desmond Benn.
The institute caters for students from Lancaster on the Corentyne Coast to Orealla, an Amerindian community along the Corentyne River.
Classes are offered in agriculture, mechanical engineering, welding, masonry, carpentry, information technology, electrical installation and motor vehicle services among others.
The facility is expected to meet the needs of the larger community as evening classes targeting adults will come on stream soon.
Presently there are 97 students enrolled, 14 of them being females. The need was pointed out for a vehicle, a risograph and more land.
While President Jagdeo agreed to examine the option of opening more land, he noted that there must be a demand for it. He urged the institute’s Board to maximise on the use of the space.
Minister of Education Dr. Henry Jeffrey noted that the physical infrastructure which now exists did not come easily and thanked all those who contributed to making it possible.
He noted that government has decentralised education and now the power is in the hands of the community. He urged the community to ensure maximum usage of the facility.
The President said that the facility adds to the administration’s vision for the education sector.
“It adds to the complement of facilities being built recently in various areas and is part of our plan to create this type of infrastructure in the education sector.”
He noted that technical institutes will also be built in Regions Five (Mahaica/Berbice) and Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) because they are necessary to equip the workforce with skills.
“Education is important in itself and critical to the (development) National Development Strategy. We have many sectoral plans and we want to achieve a better life for all of our people and education plays a pivotal role in these plans.”
He noted that the government is expending much on the other sectors but without education it is hard to overcome poverty.
“Everything that we do fit in to some part of our national plan and the skills you do here will go into securing the industry being developed.”
In this context, he noted that the government is expanding the sugar industry as well as encouraging diversification of the agricultural sector. He also noted that manufacturing is a growing sector as well as the skills and mechanics and these would create opportunities for persons trained at this institute.
He said that government has worked to enhance coordination between the institute and the industrial sector to ensure that persons are employed.
The President also committed to improving the access road to the institute, which is in a deplorable state.
The key on a chain was presented by the contractor, to Minister Jeffrey, the Region and the school’s administration. Students presented candle stands that they made to the President and Minister Jeffrey.
After touring the facility the Head of State met a group of cane farmers from Johannesburg for a closed door meeting.
TOP
Construction progressing on Skeldon factory- more Guyanese employed
Georgetown, GINA, June 24, 2006
Construction of the new Skeldon Sugar factory is progressing and it has begun creating employment for hundreds of Guyanese.
Head of State President Bharrat Jagdeo as part of his three-day Cabinet outreach to Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) which started today, visited the construction site where he was told by Executives of the Chinese National Technical and Industrial Corporation (CNTIC) that there are 400 persons employed with 200 of them being Guyanese.
At present the civil engineering aspect of the project is ongoing with various sections of the foundation being laid for the factory. To build the factory and upgrade other facilities is estimated to cost US$165M.
The Head of Sate was informed that the construction process had encountered challenges initially. Construction Manager, Gordon Armstrong said these challenges were due to the fluctuation in cement supply on the local market but indicated that this problem will be ‘balanced out’ later.
The President urged the company to examine the option of importing cement from external sources to satisfy its demand and this will also ease the pressure on local markets to fulfill the local demand.
President Jagdeo was told that the co-generation element of the factory will feed into the national grid to supply electricity and that a stand-by diesel facility will be used in the out-of-crop season.
“We don’t want to have all that power only for standby so we should look to see if it can be integrated into the national Grid,” the President said.
The co-generation plant is expected to provide 30 megawatts of power as well as produce ethanol.
The Head of State also looked at the steam boiler erected some 37 metres high to generate adequate pressure for the co-generation plant.
The Chinese Executives also told the President that there is variation in the number of piles to be fabricated and driven. This may result in some delay, they said.
The Head of State remarked that this might be the most impressive factory in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Latin America and that it will be a model for other sugar producing countries seeking to construct factories and hence the President underscored the need for quality work.
The Skeldon sugar factory project is part of Government’s modernisation drive for the sugar industry in the face of price cuts from the European Commission (EC) for preferentially traded sugar as it seeks to reform its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The EC, in June last year, made the decision to cut the price offered for preferential sugar from sugar–producing African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries by 39 percent.
The ACP had called on the Commission, to cut the net price of sugar by 19 percent, with an eight-year implementation period starting in 2008, rather than by 39 percent over a two-year period from 2007 as proposed earlier by the Commission. This, ACP argued, would have given the countries more time to prepare for the loss they would suffer when the cut is implemented.
However, the Commission later decided on a 36 percent cut commencing July 21 to be implemented over a four-year period, with the final cut being 11 percent in 2010.
With the new factory in operation and the added initiatives to be undertaken to improve production, sugar output is expected to move from 300,000 to 460,000 tonnes.
Other main elements of the plan include expansion of production in line with new marketing opportunities, increasing sugar sales to CARICOM to 100,000 tonnes, implementing an Agriculture Improvement Plan, upgrading factories to increase yields, producing value added products, and the mechanisation of factories.
Guyana, according to the British Department Fund for International Development (DIFID) has a very strong possibility, among other affected countries, to survive the reformation of the sugar regime.
TOP
