Latest update December 12th, 2024 1:00 AM
With hundreds of millions already spent… GGMC High St. building “unsafe”, likely to be torn down
The High Street Building on which hundreds of
millions were spent, but is now likely to be torn down.
A massive building on High Street, Georgetown, that was earmarked for operations of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) is likely to be torn down as it is said to be unsafe.
Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on the edifice which sits in the compound that once housed the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). GBC is now part of the National Communications Network (NCN), the state-owned company that controls radio and television network countrywide.
The structure had been earmarked for the former Ministry of Human Services, but it was later announced that the Ministry of Natural Resources, created under the previous administration, would be in charge of the new building.
GGMC reportedly paid $100M and was set to spend another $600M to conduct repairs.
Yesterday, Minister within the Ministry of the Presidency in charge of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, questioned during the deliberations of the 2015 estimates for the Ministry, disclosed that GGMC is waiting on a final assessment of the building which appears beyond repair now. Workers were even unable to tile the floors because of the precarious state. The property had sparked a dispute at GGMC, with staffers preferring to stay at the Brickdam offices, where they have been housed for years now.
Last year, GGMC had moved to hire a contractor to do repairs to the incomplete building.
In 2013, it was reported that the mining agency would be moving from its Upper Brickdam location to the former GBC building.
GGMC is reportedly plagued by overcrowding and the additional structure would have greatly eased the pressure of accommodating staffers at the main building.
Last year, it was reported that load testing had to be performed at the High Street location, since concerns were raised over capacity in relation to accommodating staff, machinery and visitors.
While capacity should be at 50 pounds per square inch, it was determined that the location may only accommodate 35 pounds.
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