Conversation Tree road: T&T company retains contract amid warnings against delayed works

Following concerns of their non-performance with the road widening project from Conversation Tree to Dennis Street, Georgetown, Kalco Guyana Inc has since engaged with the Public Works Ministry and moved to being a performing contractor.
Guyanese company S Jagmohan Construction and General Supplies Inc and Trinidadian-owned Kalco Guyana Inc were awarded the contract for the $1.8 billion road widening project.
With Kalco being significantly behind schedule, they were asked to submit a revised work plan detailing how they can finish within the stipulated deadline of November 5.
During a site visit of the project in July, Public Works Minister Bishop Juan Edghill had observed that though 65 per cent of the contract time had elapsed, only 25 per cent of the work was completed.
While S Jagmohan was making progress, Edghill had warned of a possible contract termination between the ministry and Kalco given their lack of development on the project.
Following this, however, Edghill on Tuesday told reporters that the Trinidadian company has now moved to being a performing contractor.
“The principals of Kalco came, we engaged with them and we made certain agreements. They have engaged Guyanese subcontractors to do specific aspects of the work so that there will be multiple things being done at the same time to move the project along,” Edghill said.
“What we’ve basically done is taken their revised work programme, in keeping with the suggestions that they’ve made with how they would move from being a non-performing contractor on that project into delivering it. They have asked to be removed from being non-performing to performing and they have shown how they intend to do that,” Edghill said.

The Public Works Minister clarified that the Ministry has made it clear that the company is to execute the project in keeping with the clauses of their signed contract.
“Work is apace. My engineers who are supervising the project have indicated that maybe about 90 per cent-plus of what [Kalco] said they will do, they are doing. They had to bring in additional resources from Trinidad in terms of personnel, they had to hire more people here in Guyana, put additional equipment onsite–things like that have happened,” Edghill said.
This project involves the construction of a four-lane carriageway from the East Coast Highway to Delhi Street and a double-lane carriageway on the reserve west of Delhi Street for northbound traffic.
It also involves concrete revetments between the East Coast Demerara Highway and Railway Embankment, concrete drains on both sides of the proposed roadway between the Railway Embankment and Delhi Street, and construction of two large concrete bridges to establish a connection to Dennis Street.
During the project launch last year, Edghill had emphasised that it formed part of the Government’s plan to provide alternative routes to persons entering and leaving Georgetown.
While Lot 8A of the project is being executed by S Jagmohan Construction and General Supplies Inc at $1.066 billion, Lot 8B was awarded to Kalco at $830 million.