KINGSTON - With systematic investments in staff education and training, David Patterson, Minister of Public Infrastructure wants the Ministry to be one that epitomizes professionalism and emboldens bold and innovative ideas.
This sentiment comes after interactions with staff from the various departments and agencies that fall under the Ministry including the Works Services Group, the Guyana Power and Light, Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) and Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
“We have young, vibrant young people in our midst. It is therefore imperative that career advancement is key to the further development within this Ministry,” Hon. Patterson stated.
To this end, instructions have been given to heads of departments to ensure that all staff be exposed to both local and international training.
“Gone are those days when only a predominate few benefited from training programmes/courses; that circle has to be widened,” he declared.
The knowledge and skills of the staff, the Minister further stated, is the Ministry’s most important competitive advantage.
“Therefore,we must strive to continuously strengthen, upgrade and extend them to younger minds. Activities in the field of education and training that develop qualified and motivated employees, will remain one of our priority strategic policies also in the future,” he added.
Touching on the perception of unprofessionalism and poor communications skills in the public’s domain, the Minister admitted those issues will be addressed with some urgency.
“For a long time staff adopted certain behavioural attitudes and patterns, so it will be a challenge to break that. However, I am confident we will make progress to change that viewpoint.”
Although he is still familiarizing himself with the operational aspects of the departments/agencies, Minister Patterson is generally satisfied with the knowledge and skills shown by the staff at all levels.
However, he firmly believes that training opportunities must be available to more staff. “The future and progression of the Infrastructure Ministry depend on it.”
KINGSTON - The recently acquired mobile asphalt plant, which has the capacity to produce 25 tons of asphalt per hour, will be utilized in the near future to deliver Asphaltic Concrete of the highest quality for road works in outlying and remote communities in Guyana.
Rawlston Adams, Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) General Manager, who oversees the Garden of Eden asphalt plant and mobile unit, posited that the latter will allow the Ministry of Public Infrastructure “to achieve its goal of having paved roads in rural and outlying areas.”
The US $120,000 mobile plant is fully computerized, pollution control confirming to the highest environmental standards and has a mineral filler unit, the only plant with this capacity locally.
“It is public knowledge that significant strides have being made to improve the quality of roads countrywide; and quality asphaltic concrete important in achieving this” Mr. Adams stated.
The overwhelming requests for the standardization of road construction across the country has prompted the DHBC management in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure to source the mobile unit, an investment the GM said “will benefit all the intended communities and its citizens.
He added, “Soon we will be able to take asphaltic concrete to Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9. These areas will have much better roads starting as early as the last quarter of 2015.”
KINGSTON - A taskforce to oversee the operations and overall functions of the drainage and irrigation system in Guyana and to come up with a feasible long-term plan will soon commence its work, as the members have already been identified.
“This taskforce will be supported by an administrative secretariat which has already been established and working for the last three weeks as the resource team who will do all the gathering of information, doing all the reports on the flooding situation in Guyana. They will be the persons executing the technical work on behalf of the commissioners,” disclosed Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson.
Minister Patterson was at the time updating media operatives on Government’s long-term initiative to deal flooding He was at yesterday’s post-cabinet media briefing held at the Ministry of the Presidency on July 22, 2015.
During this engagement the Minister pointed out that the taskforce will be headed by Major General Rt’d Joe Singh and will include Charles Sohan, Malcomn Ally, Egbert Carter, Andrew Bishop, Stanley Ming, Joseph Holder, Charles Ceres and Dr. David Singh. Representatives from the Guyana Association of Professional Engineers (GAPE), the Private Sector, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) and various ministries will also be included.
It should also be noted that Government has been offered support from the Netherlands in the form of a technical team to assist the taskforce. This offer is pending approval by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Justifying his request of six month for the first preliminary report of the taskforce to be ready, Minister Patterson explained, “the reason I have asked for six months is because we would like to look at what’s happening and we would like to project for example Georgetown, where it’s going to be in fifteen to twenty years and make provisions for that now.”
The Public Infrastructure Minister pointed out that the Government is not interested in any band-aid solution to the problem.
“The intention is to provide a holistic approach which we can act on. It is no use for us to simply do a band-aid solution by cleaning drainage or repairing sluices and things like that…The problem is much bigger than that, we have to give ourselves the time to study it and come up with a feasible plan including financing it,” he said.
Recent initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure have seen tremendous improvements to the drainage system in the city and its environs. Most areas are reporting that water is now running off at a much quicker rate. While some very low-lying areas are affected more easily, there are efforts being made to bring a permanent solution to the problem.
KINGSTON - While government is still contemplating the future of the Amaila Fall Hydro-power Project (AFHP), should no plans be made to move forward with it, proposals for cost recovery from the US$42M Amaila Falls Access Road will be need to be gauged.
According to Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, “what we are looking at is seeing some sort of cost recovery on the road. So right now we are doing assessments, who will benefit from the road and so on.”
He revealed that under the existing contracts there is still 18 km left of roadway to be completed as well as remedial work. The minister gave no indication that the government was looking to cease these operations in fact stating that since the contract had already been paid for the work needed to be done.
“What is in the contract contractors will have to finish…we want them to finish because most of the money has been expended. We may as well get the road complete,” he stated.
He said that logging and mining in the areas along the road are both very lucrative stating that a toll could be set up for use of the roadway.
Patterson also noted that the various communities that would benefit from the road will also be assessed if or when a toll is established.
“…Use the monies recouped from that to maintain the road,” Patterson stated, noting that the government was not looking to spend millions in upkeep of a road that has no direct benefit should the AFHP be shelved indefinitely.
In January, former Public Works Minister, under the PPP/C administration, Robeson Benn revealed that the ministry was projecting to spend $200M each year to maintain the access road.
Technical Adviser for the Amaila Falls Access Road, Walter Willis, during the same press conference stated that the road was substantially completed and that it was currently being used with more than 95% of the work done.
Since then, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon had revealed in June that AFHP hinged on an economic feasibility study done by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
At a post-Cabinet press briefing he had noted that the IDB is holding US$80 million from the Guyana-Norway forest protection deal in its accounts as Guyana’s equity in the project and Guyana was also seeking a loan from the Bank for the AFHP.
Harmon’s revelation came after President David Granger had indicated that his administration was unlikely to proceed with the project although he stated that hydropower was still being considered as a viable energy option.
At the time Harmon had reported that IDB vice-president Alexandre Meira da Rosa and General Manager for the Caribbean Department of the Bank, Gerald Johnson were in the country and a report on the feasibility study would be submitted. The study was however not handed over to the government at that point in time and there has been no additional word from the government if this has been done since.
When in opposition, both APNU and the AFC had criticized the Bharrat Jagdeo and Donald Ramotar administrations for the lack of transparency surrounding the AFHP. The AFHP was the flagship project of the Low Carbon Development Strategy and was supported by Norway but has struggled to get off the ground even as it was enveloped in several controversies. Norway last year transferred US$80 million earned by Guyana for limiting deforestation, to the IDB as Guyana’s equity in the project.
Since the project was first announced, costs of the 165-megawatt hydro venture have escalated from the original US$450 million to US$858.2 million up to 2013. The costs for the access road had ballooned from US$15 million when the contract was signed in 2010 to US$43.5 million last year.
Sithe Global, the project developers, had pulled out of the AFHP in August 2013 citing a lack of political consensus. The company had issued a statement saying that unless all three parties in Parliament backed two measures for the controversial US$858M project it would pull out. The measures were not fully supported and the company walked away. (Stabroek News)
KINGSTON - Aerswar Deonarine Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO Administration) of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Company and Carvil Duncan President of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions (FITUG) and Director on GPL's Board are now in serious financial trouble, as an on-gong forensic audit at GPL has unearthed the unauthorised transfer of $28.748 million into their personal bank accounts.
According to Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson, the money was taken from the PetroCaribe fund, confirming what the current Administration has always maintained, that is, money has been siphoned off from the PetroCaribe fund, thereby leaving it in a state of bankruptcy.
Minister Patterson, who briefed the media at a post-Cabinet press conference at the Ministry of the Presidency Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, explained that the findings were made known to him via the auditing company, Hughes Financial Associates.
According to him, $27.8 million went to Mr. Deonarine’s account and $948,000 to that of Mr. Duncan. The Minister explained that Deonarine, in collusion with Duncan, in June 2015, transferred the $27.8 million to Deonarine’s account in lieu of retroactive payments for salary increase that was never approved. The argument posited from Deonarine is that his salary was supposed to be on the same scale as that of GPL’s second DCEO (Operations & Projects).
The Minister detailed that at no time did the Board of Directors consent to this arrangement, even though Deonarine made several approaches to them. It was also revealed that neither the previous Prime Minister Sam Hinds nor the Previous Head of State Donald Ramotar assent to this transfer, leaving Mr. Duncan as the possible culpable partner.
Currently, as the audit goes forward, Deonarine has been sent on Administrative leave, pending further and full investigations, after which Cabinet will be apprised.
Carvil Duncan’s issue relates to the money he also allegedly gave approval for. This too has to do with retroactive payments, dating back to some 48 months, during which time he was paid $5,000.00 monthly as a board member, but had repeated insisted on an increase to $20,000.00.
Minister Patterson added that the matter has taken on a most serious import and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Guyana Police Force is now actively engraved in probing the issue, treating it as a heinous crime.
KINGSTON - The Ministry of Public Infrastructure is planning to rehabilitate the now defunct Mazaruni Dockyards and will do so with the acquisition of a new complement of staff and equipment.
Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Annette Ferguson visited the area on July 17, and it was concluded that there is an immediate need to resuscitate and revitalize the operations of that facility.
“The Dockyard is the primary location for the repair of vessels that ply our numerous riverain routes. It was also determined that viability can only be ensured by the acquisition of new equipment, staff enhancement and a complete overhaul of the facility,” Minister Feguson stated.
The Minister also outlined several initiatives that would see the revamping of the Transport and Harbors Departments across the country.
“Most immediate is the regeneration of major stellings, like the one at Bartica, to see it become a functioning hub for traffic both for tourism and commerce. Bartica is to be made a township by April 2016. Additionally, there will be the upgrade of all vessels within the fleet, training and enhancement of the human resource potential, and the rehabilitation of structures and facilities to bring the operations to the optimum level of functioning,” the Minister added.
KINGSTON - The Ministry of Public Infrastructure today, July 16 dispatched a team to assess the Guyana Revenue Authority head office on Camp Street after a tremor caused cracks in several parts of the building.
Hon. David Patterson stated that half a dozen new cracks were found by the team of structural engineers. These would have developed due to tremors from an earthquake off of Barbados at around 11.20 am.
It occurred about 125 km North-East of the capital, Bridgetown; 234 km East of Castries, St Lucia and 255 km East South-East of Fort-de-France, Martinique, at a depth of 10 kilometers. St Lucia, Trinidad and Dominica are among the other Caribbean islands that felt the tremor, based on reports on social media.
KINGSTON - A full report into the January 2014 plane crash which claimed the lives of Canadian Pilot Captain Blake Slater and Guyanese cargo handler Dwayne Jacobs has pointed to engine failure as the most likely cause of the accident.
Former Public Works Ministry made the disclosure earlier in the year but did not release details. According to the extensive report by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), “the investigation revealed that the probable cause of the accident was due to a power loss suffered by the engine.”
The incident occurred on January 18, 2014 moments after Slater had radioed a distress signal while he was on a shuttle flight from Olive Creek to Imbaimadai. The report said that the power loss was associated with a fracture of one of the first stage compressor stator vanes by fatigue. “The fatigue crack originated from a lack of brazing adhesion extending over approximately 0.280 inches along the chord length and 0.050 inches in the direction of the shroud thickness and was located between the leading edge and mid-chord of the vane.”
In their ‘General Findings,’ investigators reported that Slater’s crash flight was one of a series of cargo shuttles that had originated the day before the accident. The day prior, he had experienced a hard landing with another aircraft followed by a brake failure which had him concerned. A decision was taken to replace that aircraft before he completed five shuttles on the day of the accident, with the sixth being fatal. Outside of this, the Trans Guyana Airways 700 Cessna Caravan that Slater was flying had seven drums of fuel onboard and the company had no system in place for preparation of load sheets for shuttles from its sub-base, Olive Creek where the flight had taken off from heading to Imbaimadai; thus none was prepared for the flight. While initial reports had claimed that the movement of cargo onboard the craft brought the plane down, investigators said, “The tie down method used was not effective because it only effectively secured the three drums that were lying flat on the floor. The four drums that were standing upright were not restrained. The drums that were not restrained shifted during the crash and squeezed both the pilot and third crew/loader who was seated behind the pilot and alongside the cargo.”
This was because the cargo barrier; a physical object between the cockpit and cargo was not used. However investigators said that TransGuyana was justified in not using the barrier as their cargo did not meet the requirement where it would have needed to take up 75 percent of the cargo space.
The post mortem examination on the planes’ occupants showed that Slater died from multiple injuries suffered to his head, neck, brain, spine, lungs and heart among other internal and external areas. The cargo handler died by asphyxiation due to crush injuries to the chest compounded by blunt trauma to the head. He too sustained multiple injuries internally and externally.
Other matters that indirectly contributed to the crash pertained to inspection specifically and recommendations were therefore made. They included the GCAA recruiting a qualified and experienced Flight Operations Officer and asking them to carry out regular simulation exercises in keeping with requirements of the Search And Rescue (SAR) Manual to improve the currency of stakeholders.
The Authority needs a resident Flight Operations Inspector or it “cannot provide the oversight that is necessary to ensure safe aircraft operations in Guyana.” Other recommendations to improve rescue operations, training, and functioning were made. (Demerara Waves)
KINGSTON - Speaking at a Stakeholders’ Consultation Meeting on Road Safety, Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson underscored the need for road safety education, noting that it is a key area in curbing road fatalities and tragedies as a whole.
At the meeting at the Ocean View International Hotel, Liliendaal, which was hosted by the Guyana National Road Safety Council (GNRSC) in collaboration with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Traffic Department and the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation ((PAHO/WHO), the Minister said.
“I will highlight some of the efforts which will be taken by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. However, irrespective of whatever efforts we put in place, we do feel that road safety education is paramount because we can design the best roads, make the most effective stop lights, however education and enforcement, in our opinion, are the main keys in ensuring the system work,” he stated.
The objective of this meeting was to update stakeholders on the national road safety activities that have thus far been conducted for 2015. It was also aimed at identifying gaps in road safety nationally, and to develop a work plan for the implementation of activities to address these gaps.
While highlighting the Ministry’s plans in this regard, Minister Patterson pointed out that “the Ministry of Public Infrastructure has put in much effort to address the safety of our road ways. We have a dedicated unit of experts, in engineers, to oversee safety measures, including the functionality of the high way lights, painting of pedestrian crossings, sidewalks, traffic signs, road marking and the erection of pedestrian road foot bridging, guard rail and barriers, but the rate of registration of vehicles in Guyana is increasing exponentially.”
As such, he added that on “The question of design, we now have to design the roads so that they can take the maximum number of cars projected annually. It is now reported as I said, 16000 in 2012, we will have to make provisions for a larger increase in the next 10 years, with regard to street lights, the Department within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure will shortly commence recalibrating the streets lights.”
“As you know, some of the time permitted to cross the intersections makes our drivers into Formula One1 drivers, because you were given four seconds to cross, (and) I have asked them to address it, and they will be to make it evenly distributed, so therefore the pressure is less on the persons accessing the roads,” the Minister explained.
As it relates to the creation of sideways and pavements for commuting by foot, the Minister noted several challenges. He said that “with all our designs, our major design these days is that of including sidewalks;, however, we have the issue of no matter what we do, we put sidewalks that now become parking lanes. You put a shoulder there for distressed vehicles and such, (but) people use it as a parking facility or a vending facility, so the question is always on enforcement.”
In addition, the country has seen a decrease in road fatalities; however, the Minister believes that this figure could have been even lower, had there been certain measures put in place.
“In 2013, the number of fatalities to 2012 is 1012, down from 1065 in 2000. I believe this figure would be even lower with incentive-initiatives taken by the key stakeholders in my Ministry. These include the implementation of a 5-10 year highway safety plan for Guyana’s top ten worst road corridors; revised police accidents reporting forms;, revised drivers’ licence and highway code; computerised database management system; transportation planning; safety units components to develop; the implementation of our transformation plans; specialised training in road engineering in our tertiary education- these will enhance the capacity of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure to execute its mandate,” said the Minister.
He further pointed out, “I am convinced that intelligent transportation systems are the future and so our infrastructure investment must take into account modern designs available to us. The Ministry of Public Infrastructure is currently working on road infrastructure master plans, which will envision all the major corridors within the country linking, and the idea is to link our coast with our hinterland…the road to Lethem is open these projects and those designs will be included in our master plan. However, I will stress once again we can put in as many safety features, barriers and traffic lights, roundabouts are all the things we are considering, but if the road users and drivers do not adhere to the laws, the police and the relevant authorities do not enforce our laws, all our efforts will be in vain.”
KINGSTON - Though the supposed restoration of Georgetown has only just begun, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, has already predicted that it will be “tremendously expensive”.
During a recent press conference, Patterson spoke at length on the ongoing restoration. He said that it would take some time. So far, cleaning and the repair of outfalls have been high on the list of priorities in achieving restoration.
Cabinet recently approved $75M to the Infrastructure Ministry for the cleanup and restoration efforts. According to Patterson, the Georgetown restoration will include the rehabilitation of the markets along with a look at the urban transportation and the city’s entire network. He said that the restoration is expected to span the new government’s first term.
“We have 2020 vision, which is our first term in office. That’s the timeframe that we’re giving ourselves to have phase one of that vision completed,” Patterson said.
When questioned on an estimated cost of the restoration, Patterson said, “It will be tremendously expensive but not unaffordable.”
He opined that it will be expensive because of the retention of “uniqueness” needed. He noted that the Stabroek, Bourda and Kitty markets are unique structures and restoring them to maintain their individuality would require quite some money.
“If the option was given to do just one market without any semblance of what was there before, it’d be cheaper. But we have to maintain our history and our heritage. So the restoration part is what will be expensive,” Patterson explained.
Meanwhile, while much of the focus is expected to be on Georgetown and its environs, Patterson said that the outlying areas will also be considered.
He stated that the Ministry’s task force will be broadening its scope, a directive which came from President David Granger and Cabinet. He said that it was indicated that flooding, for example, occurs in other areas outside of Georgetown. Hence, a more comprehensive approach was needed.
“They’d like a holistic report from me so I am in the process of expanding the task force’s membership and the terms of reference to take on other areas…We have to holistically address where we’re going” Patterson said.
