The Region Four Democratic Council (RDC) has ordered a full investigation into the construction of the Supply, East Coast Demerara Health centre following complaints of shoddy works.
According to the RDC, complaints were received about the poor quality of work at the facility while he recently also failed to adhere to a cease order issued by Regional Executive Officer Pauline Lucas.
The RDC said in a statement that the contractor was asked to stop casting of the flooring of the building since a tree stump which was supposed to have been removed was being covered.
Regional Vice Chairman, Earl Lambert at a Council meeting noted that “in years to come, that tree root if not removed can certainly affect the structure of that building, and we may see the root breaking up the flooring.
“So certainly there is a need for action against this contractor and any other who may have erred.”
He added that the Council cannot go on spending monies on structures that would later cost more monies to fix.
The Vice Chairman told the Council that several contractors are more interested in winning contracts than delivering quality work for taxpayers’ dollars. As such, he stressed that the Local Government body needs to take the required action against such contractors who are bent on delivering poor quality work so as to ensure that there isn’t reoccurrence of such situation.
However, the RDC’s Senior Engineer, Elon Austin, disclosed that a “stress test” was conducted last week by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the results concluded that the flooring was of acceptable quality for the continuation of works.
Regional Chair, Genevieve Allen raised concerns about the project rolling into 2019 but the Councillors maintained that a further investigation was necessary.
The Councillors noted that the said contractor has five contracts within the region and if the issue is not addressed at the Supply Health Centre, it may recur.
The Regional Chaired put the matter to a vote which resulted in the decision for a full investigation being ordered into the works at the Health Centre.
Allen promised to commission a special meeting shortly to commence the investigation.
