[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Alliance for Change (AFC) has lashed out at the contractor for the substandard works which were done on the San Jose Bridge in Moruca.
AFC Member of Parliament Valerie Garido-Low, Region Eight Councillor Naiem Gafoor and Andrew Correia visited the area recently. iNews had reported earlier in the week that the road is almost impassable. Residents claimed that it was as a result of substandard works done by one contractor which have worsened in light of the current downpour of rain.
When contacted on Thursday (January 16) Region One Chairman Paul Pierre confirmed reports of substandard works and delays in the completion of the road on the part of the contractor.
In addition to this, the AFC is claiming that the contractor has since refused to complete revetment works on the bridge, forcing residents to construct their own catwalk on the bridge.
“Red mud and a long pool of water was the result of the work the contractor had done. Persons who had to do business on either side of the Kumaka Bridge were forced to walk through this thigh-high, muddy water fetching their shopping bags, or, in the case of one young woman they saw fetching her baby on her hip while the other arm was stretched out for balance. How was this project allowed to deteriorate right in front of everyone’s eyes…? It is indeed unbelievable that repeated representations from as high as the parliamentary level had produced nothing to correct this situation!“Shameful, very shameful,” Garrido-Lowe and team described it.
The Parliamentarian further noted that the behaviour of the contractor is a total “eyepass.”
“How dare he treat the residents of Moruca in such a manner? What did they do or their children do to him to deserve such callous treatment to be meted out to them?”
In Parliament on Thursday, January 16 MP Garrido-Lowe spoke to Minister Ganga Persaud about the issue and informed him that the contractor had done a bad job, behaved badly and should have been fired a long time ago.
The AFC noted, “Minister Persaud readily agreed with her and said that the Permanent Secretary was in Moruca right now to examine the situation. Garrido-Lowe told him that a concrete bridge is needed because there are reports that the columns,that supported the bridge itself were sinking; the boards of the revetment were also too short.”
