Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 04, 2017 News
Over the weekend, amidst all the news, a little ceremony took place in Corriverton, East Berbice.
A wharf, complete with driven piles and even a storage area, was commissioned at a cost of $16M. It was not a renovation and was built from scratch.
The project is a shining example of how much savings could be made once proper care and attention is paid, says Gobin Harbhajan, the Berbice representative of Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo.
“This is what we talking about when we discuss giving the people value for their tax dollars…for their monies.”
The cost has raised questions as to what exactly was built.
A visit to the area Sunday confirmed that indeed an entire facility is in place, fully painted and tarred.
Built on the riverfront, it is supposed to benefit residents, farmers and loggers of the Berbice area. The project, which cost $16M, was made possible via a $25M allocation from government through the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
According to Harbhajan, the price is a gift that was built using greenheart piles.
“This will benefit farmers from Orealla, a community upriver that in the past had nowhere to go. This wharf was built where there was nothing before.”
According to Harbhajan, from his information, the wharf area could even be used eventually as a hangout spot.
“We believe that this project coming in under-budget is because of increased monitoring of our spending. It even used greenheart piles which are by no means cheap.”
Harbhajan also pointed to the fact that in the past there were questions about projects and spending, with some of the figures looking unbelievable.
“We could take the new NIS office right in Corriverton, commissioned by the former government. It was built for $69M. How could that be? We have so many examples of bridges, sluices and so on that we failed to monitor.”
On Saturday, outgoing Mayor of Corriverton, Ganesh Gangadin said that the facility was built with the intention to provide some assistance to persons living upriver, the Orealla Community, as well as farmers and loggers who use the river.
He said that prior to the wharf being built, persons would have had to depend on the mercy of the tide before they landed or moored their boats to move their products.
“Of course that was extremely difficult and they had to be stuck in the boat for several hours sometimes, waiting on this tide. So we had proposed this about a year ago and some other ministries were also interested in the project and parliament had granted an approval…an allocation of a sum of $25M for this project.”
Although $25M was approved for the project, just $16M was spent, and Gangadin said that the remaining money will be used to improve the facility.
“It was recently completed but some sort of modification has to be done; for example, we’re looking in future to put in storage facilities for persons who bring out their produce and may not be able to sell all in the same day, so they can actually rent a storage compartment, store their produce, and continue the commercial transaction the following day.”
Gangadin added that eventually, the design will also cater for future expansion outward by another 100 feet so that the entire channel edge can be captured where there will be no future interference whatsoever.
“Right now we’re still somewhat hampered by the tide, but minimally. I can foresee that a lot of benefits are on the way for the municipality as well as the residents of Orealla and even farmers and the farming community and loggers who are operating almost 50 to 60 miles upriver.”
The outgoing Mayor said that currently, people are using the wharf, but it is not in full operation as yet. He said that the mooring piles are already in place, which will be bolstered by another set of piles so that boats can be moored easily.
Gangadin said that the wharf will be handed over to the municipality under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). He said that the MoU is currently being drafted and after signing, will be managed solely by the Municipal Administrative Council of the town.
Further, Gangadin said that apart from the wharf, the municipality is seeing the new infrastructure as a great commercial venture. He said that in the future, there are plans to further modernise the area.
“We had already applied some time in 2016 and we are awaiting approval for a British grant to actually build a boardwalk right out here with a restaurant, and to also pave that area out there to make it a commercial area where it is planned to build a few concessionary stores, which will be rented as a source of revenue for the municipality.”
Gangadin informed that based on initial calculations, if the model of franchising is used, the potential revenue which can be garnered from the project will outweigh that of the town’s rates and taxes.
“We will almost double the revenue to the municipality, of course which is also a sustainable way of developing our town.”
Harbhajan disclosed that the wharf was initiated by the Regional Chairman, David Armogan, a few years ago when Corriverton had an Interim Mayor.
It was in the 2016 Corriverton Manesto for construction but only realized under former Mayor Ganesh Gangadin.
The construction was done by the Memorex Construction. Preparation has been made to turn the area into a tarmac and install a few confectionary stores.
Prior to this, the Orealla/Siparuta residents would have had to wait on the tide – after travelling via river for an inordinate amount of time – to get to the shore to upload and offload their goods.
Another Corriverton resident, Hari Beharry, a former council official, believed too that the project was good for the price. However, he was worried about the height of the mooring area which he said should be a floating one to allow for better offloading.
“We can also see some problems with the work, but all in all, the price seems okay.”
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