Govt terminates contract for El Dorado Road Project over ‘poor performance’
The Government has terminated the contract that was awarded to N & S Contracting Services for construction of the El Dorado Road, Corentyne, Berbice.
The contract was awarded in early 2022, and the contractor was given a $22 million mobilisation advance to construct one kilometre of road continuing along El Dorado Road, Moleson Creek.
Public Works Minister Bishop Juan Edghill at the site
However, Public Works Minister Bishop Juan Edghill visited the area on Friday only to find that no work has been completed on the road, even after a letter of poor performance was issued to the contractor. As such, Minister Edghill has instructed that the contract be immediately terminated, while reiterating Government’s zero-tolerance policy for underperformance by contractors on developmental projects.
“This has been more than seven months. There is no visible sign of any work being executed,” the Minister said. Moreover, he has requested that the Tender Board be notified to remove the contractor from the system to avoid a repeat of the issue.
“We will get contractors engaged. The monies are available, the project has rolled over, and we will get the road delivered to the people. We’re not going to be in a mode of any contractor doing work when he feels like it. When contractors bid, even if they have another job, they have to show that they have the equipment, personnel, and financial wherewithal to execute that contract separate and apart from anything else they are doing,” Minister Edghill has said.
Extending a charge to the new contractors bidding for the project, the Public Works Minister has made it clear that there will be no hesitation to terminate the contract in instances of poor performance or underperformance.
“I will make sure that whoever is on the list to bid for this new work is a performing contractor that would have shown that they have the capacity to deliver”, he added.
Upon completion, the $100 million road from Moleson Creek to El Dorado, Corentyne, Berbice would have increased access to quarries in Orealla, Corentyne River.
