Contracts inked for synthetic tracks in Regions Six and 10

By Avenash Ramzan

Contracts for the third phase of construction of synthetic tracks in Regions Six and 10 have been awarded.

Representatives of BK International Inc. and Builders Hardware and General Supplies were on hand on Friday afternoon to sign the contracts at the Ministry of Social Cohesion, Main and Quamina Streets, Georgetown.

BK International Inc. has been awarded the contract for the Region Six track, to be built at Burnham Park, New Amsterdam, Berbice, to the tune of approximately $141 million.

Builders Hardware and General Supplies has been given the nod for the facility at Bayroc Community Centre ground, Wismar, Linden, to the tune of $179 million. There were 14 tenders for the Region Six project and 12 for Region 10.

Deputy Director of Sport, Melissa Dow-Richardson, said: “We’re in phase three and this is specific to the ground preparation…there will be ground work, the laying of necessary drainage pipes, curb work, asphalting and concreting where necessary. This is prior to phase four when the laying of the synthetic material would be conducted.”

Actual work will start seven days after the signing of the contract, while this phase should be completed within three to six months, Dow-Richardson highlighted.

Minister with responsibility for Sport, Dr. George Norton, said community involvement in the project has been sought to ensure government gets worth for money.

“We find that this is a very effective way of monitoring and evaluation, and that is going to be our modus operandi from now on,” Minister Norton said.

“We’ve had situations with projects before where it was left up to the contractors and consultants, and we fell behind and we had to withdraw contracts. We’re learning from our mistakes- this will not happen in this case, the community itself is involved.”

Currently, there is only one synthetic track in Guyana, located at Leonora, West Coast Demerara.