Hope Canal gets another deadline extension

After two years of delays …Hope Canal gets another deadline extension

JANUARY 9, 2014 | BY KNEWS |  The canal is being constructed to ease the pressure of water on the East Demerara Water Conservancy at times when it reaches its maximum capacity, releasing it into the Atlantic Ocean, via the Sluice.

Works on this eight-gate sluice has delayed the entire Hope/Dochfour Canal project.

The date of completion for the $3B Hope/Dochfour Canal has been extended again. This time, Kaieteur News was informed by an official of the Agriculture Ministry, that contractors have been given until April of this year to complete the remaining works.

While the three major components could have been completed in time for the project’s previous December 31 deadline, the eight-gated sluice, an aspect contracted to Courtney Benn Contracting Services, was way behind schedule.

The overall construction works on the Northern Relief Channel is more than two years behind its original deadline.

This newspaper understands that the contractual agreement made with Courtney Benn Contracting Services, will have to once again be adjusted.

Despite many attempts, Kaieteur News was unable to meet with the Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy to find out what would be the changes made in the contract, and if the contractor would be penalised.

In November, Dr. Ramsammy was determined not to entertain another extended date of completion, suggesting that Courtney Benn Contracting Services hire additional workers to complete his component of the Hope Canal project.

During that time, Minister Ramsammy had even announced that the government was finally prepared to impose the penalty clause on contractors, should the Canal not be completed by the agreed date of December 31, 2013.

He noted that this was especially since the Agriculture Ministry has been quite patient with the three contracted companies – DIPCON Engineering, BK International and Courtney Benn Contracting Services, as it relates to accommodating extensions of proposed deadlines.

The construction of the $3B Hope/Dochfour Northern Relief Channel was undertaken by former Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, who estimated an 18-month completion, when construction commenced in February 2011.

Late last year Dr. Ramsammy, in his capacity as Agriculture Minister, announced an extended completion date – June 2013. This was subsequently extended to August 31, and later to December-January 2013.

One of the largest infrastructure initiatives in Guyana’s history, overall works on the Hope/Dochfour Canal is approximately 80 percent completed. It has been purported that the relief channel would have the capacity to withstand floods greater than that which occurred in 2005.

So far, the three-gated Head Regulator- the component assigned to BK International – is nearing completion. The excavation of the 10.3km long earthen channel, which is being carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, is about 93 percent complete. The process of shaping the dam is currently ongoing, with about 40 percent already done.

Ultimately, the delay on the sluice will stall the entire project operation, since each structure is dependent on the other.

Meanwhile, the bridge, sited on the East Coast Public Road, is about 80 percent complete. Works are being carried out by DIPCON Engineering. Dr. Ramsammy said that the process of building an incline road to the bridge is also currently ongoing.

During a recent interview with Kaieteur News, Dr. Ramsammy did not disclose what the penalty would be, should the contractors not meet the projected deadline. The Minister usually defends that the contractors have been working under strenuous circumstances, but despite this, a substantial amount of work has been completed so far

.