WILL THE PPP EVER ACCEPT ITS MISTAKES? 

WILL THE PPP

OPINION BY: Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine 

In the aftermath of the worst maritime tragedy in Guyana, the public is incessantly being fed with a variety of excuses and pseudo-reasoning concerning the sinking of the 87-year-old Barima.

A freak wave, captain’s error, overladen cargo, excess passengers…  ad nauseam. Regardless of the excuses emanating from Freedom House, the Barima should have been decommissioned two decades ago, as is the norm worldwide, even in impoverished countries. 

The underlying ineptitude lies in the non- completion of the Port Kaituma wharf. International Import and Supplies, owned by Parmeshwar Jagmohan, won the Port Kaituma Stelling contract through public tender on December 30, 2022. Physical works started January 17, 2023, with an April 17, 2024 completion target, at G$1.4 billion notwithstanding any proper feasibility, evaluation of soil stability, river currents and silting.

The scope was limited to building the physical structure, while design and project supervision sat with a separate local consultancy firm CEMCO, a firm the gov’t retained-not the builder. Hereafter we encounter a sequence of errors:

•As of February 18, 2024, the contractor reported 90% completion, and was on schedule. 

•The fissures appeared afterwards, during the final stages of pile-cap casting, in the backfilled zone. 

•Work stopped immediately, and the Ministry and consultant were notified. 

•What came out of the investigation was clear enough: the tie rod strength in the original design was inadequate. 

•An independent third-party firm brought in to review it found further deficiencies in the affected section. 

•The Ministry then retained that same third-party firm to run a “new” geotechnical survey and produce a revised design, calling for longer, thicker piles and tie rods. 

•According to the contractor’s account, materials for the redesign had been procured, and work was preparing to resume IN 2024. 

Now this wharf was built to receive a specific vessel: the US $12.7 million MV Ma Lisha which arrived in Guyana in April 2023. This 250-passenger and vehicle-carrying ferry was built in India by Garden Reach Shipbuilders under a 2021 deal financed by the  Indian government –  through a loan that required Indian construction.

In August that year, Edghill stood at the Port Kaituma site and told the contractor to deliver the facility by the end of November so the Ma Lisha could start sailing there “early December 2023.”

A timeline that  is now more than two and a half years and counting. The Ma Lisha has spent her entire service life running to Kumaka instead, because there has never been a finished wharf at Port Kaituma for her to berth.

A  final determination concluded that  soil shifting and pier structure problems were the major issues. The firm that made that conclusion that the first consultant got it wrong, ended up being the same firm the Ministry paid to get it right the second time—a scenario where you write your exams and then mark your own test papers!

This is a government that profusely blames everyone  else but itself where culpability must be assigned. Given the fact that Minister Juan Edghill presided over the Ministry of Public Works commandingly for the last six years, he must be held accountable for the failings of the T&HD and MARAD which triggered this ongoing disaster.

Given the fact that he was fully apprised and  aware of every issue that existed with the project, he should have  done the honorable thing and  recused himself from office, to ensure  a comprehensive and unimpeded investigation into the circumstances that led to the largest maritime disaster in the nation’s history,  he has still  not removed himself for the helm of the Ministry. 

Reports on the ground indicate that the project has failed for the second time after this still un-named firm entered the picture. But hold on: The Teddy Bear Sundaze sponsored Parika to Supernaam Orange Pop Boat Cruise on board one of the two new vessels bought to replace the MV Barima has been cancelled.

So where is the truth? Can anyone believe the PPP will tell the truth? All are guilty for this horrific loss of over 100 lives