The Ministry of Works and Bahamas Hot Mix (BHM) have confirmed speculation that the ongoing adjudication process between them will affect the date for completion of the ongoing Road Rehabilitation Project.
Sean Geiser, a representative for contractors, BHM, affirmed yesterday that the target deadline will be impacted.
“Right now, there is a legal process ongoing and a lot of what comes out of that legal process affects that … so to put something on the table right now would be highly incorrect and I think that will not be fair to the public to stipulate a certain date and that’s not achieved…once that has come to fruition then a date will be achievable.”
This information was shared during a press briefing yesterday at the Ministry’s Project Implementation Management Unit (PIMU) where Communications Officer Shawn Thomas sought to give reassurance that both parties will work towards providing the completion date.
On 9th February 2017, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda officially launched the Road Rehabilitation Project to upgrade the Sir George Walter Highway and Friars Hill Road, during a stipulated 18-month period.
In late March 2019, however, the public was informed of the dispute between the government and the company contracted to execute the major project currently under way on Friars Hill Road and Sir George Walter Highway, which are both far from completion.
At that time, the public was informed that the row was over whether BHM should get an extension on its contract, with pay, but the government did not wish to grant this as it believed that the job could have been completed within three months.
Meantime, the Community Liaison Officer in the PIMU, Anne Harewood George, said another roadwork project is on the horizon. That project will be called ‘the second road infrastructure rehabilitation project’ and will involve Valley Road, Anchorage Road, Factory Road and Old Parham Road.