Contractor found using wrong materials ordered to ‘dig up’, rectify

Following complaints by Den Amstel, West Coast Demerara residents over the use of incorrect base material for the construction of a revetment and road in the community, the Regional Chairman, Inshan Ayube has said the contractor was ordered to rectify the shortcomings.

Earlier this month, Ayube was accompanied by the Engineer attached to the Ministry of Public Works to inspect the ongoing works in the village by the contractor. The visit was prompted by the concerns of residents who claimed that the base material used for the construction of a road and revetment was not in keeping with the standard.

“The contractor is doing a revetment and at the same time he’s doing an internal street, so the residents have some hiccups as it relates to both.”

“Because he is supposed to use loam, and he is using a kind of red sand,” Ayube initially told the News Room.

Without the correct base material, the residents feared that the revetment would not be sturdy enough for its function.

Ayube said that he was not pleased with the work either when he visited and as such, on Thursday, he told the News Room that he was informed by the Engineer that the contractor must now dig up the material and use the correct loam.

“I just got a verbal report, I’m waiting on a written report that the man has to dig out back the road and put the right material that is on the bill of quantity,” Ayube said.

Asked whether this would mean the contractor was indeed using the wrong material, Ayube said “definitely, yes.”

“The engineer has said that he instructed the contractor to dig out back the road and lay the correct material that has to be at the base, he told me that verbally but up to now I am not the recipient of a bill of quantity so I got to follow it up. I have to go back and visit the site,” he said.