Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 28, 2012 News
-says contract was only for the building construction
Courtney Benn Contracting Services Limited is assuring that all things
being equal, work on the police’s forensic laboratory will be completed on schedule.
According to the firm’s Managing Director, Courtney Benn, there is still time to complete the project by the May deadline.
Last year, the company which had won, in a bidding process, the $450M contract, had said that they should be able to complete the job in a 12-month time frame.
The Memorandum of Understanding for the project was signed in April, 2011.
However, in February this year, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee under whose Ministry the contract falls, had disclosed that the project was behind schedule.
This newspaper had visited the worksite in the University of Guyana compound and it was clear that the 12-month deadline would not be met.
But, while acknowledging that the project was a bit behind schedule, Benn insisted that the actual completion date for the project is still May.
He attributed the delays to unforeseen circumstances such as the inclement weather.
“But there are some legitimate claims that we could make to the Consultant and they will evaluate it and see if we’re right…at least we think that we should get some more time if we don’t finish it by our May deadline, ” Benn stated.
He believes that any extension of the time frame should not bring additional cost to his part of the project.
According to Benn, the Consultant has to agree that the contractor’s claim for an extension is legitimate; otherwise liquidated damages could be imposed.
This newspaper had reported that since this was the first of a kind facility in Guyana, the local contracting firm did not have the necessary expertise to complete the job.
However, Benn explained that his company’s task is just to construct a building to house the state-of-the-art laboratory- nothing new to that company.
“It (contract) contains electricity, an elevator, fence; all the things to complete the building. These special items that they will need to complete the forensic lab are not part of our contract,” Benn explained.
He pointed out that except for a few parts, the building will be no different from any other building that his company has constructed before.
“The only difference is that the doors are steel doors, ventilated steel doors, which come from Trinidad and are already installed,” the contractor explained.
He defended the $450M price tag, explaining that the work to be carried out on the facility has to be of a certain standard.
“When you cast a foundation, you got to get your PSI (pounds per square inch), your strength for your concrete and these kinds of things; a private man build something, he just cast it and then tomorrow he start to put up post, government can’t go that way because they’re gonna get blamed (for substandard work),” Benn explained.
The electrical component alone for the contract is between $70M and $80M.
“I don’t think that the cost is exorbitant, the contract is there for all to see,” Benn declared.
He dismissed any suggestion that his company might have in some way been engaged in anything underhand.
The construction of the laboratory, which is funded by the Inter American Development Bank in partnership with the Guyana Government, is expected to greatly enhance the investigative capabilities of the Guyana Police Force.
And with so many local cases going overboard due to the over reliance on eyewitness testimony alone, forensic science in police work is certainly the way to go in these modern times.
It will certainly help to reduce the reliance on eyewitness testimony, most of which have been successfully challenged by smart defense attorneys.
Forensic laboratories contain the most up-to-date technology and techniques for enhancing and analysing fingerprints, shoeprints and tyre marks, among other things.
A common unit found in forensic laboratories is the Serology Unit, which deals primarily with the testing of blood.
The units available in different labs will vary from one to the other, however, the need for certain analyses and the budget of each lab determines the availability of the departments.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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