BK International and Roopan Ramotar Investments - contractors awarded the lion's share of all government contracts

Guyana Chronicle, 17 September 2009.
Work on Crabwood Creek control structures half way complete
By Tajeram Mohabir
REGION Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) Chairman Mr. Zulfikar Mustapha has reported that civil and earthen works on the Crabwood Creek control structures are some 50 per cent complete.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Mustapha pointed out that current civil works on the creek structures will control the flow of water from the back lands to the cultivation and residential areas.

That project is being executed by BK International, with a 15-month duration.

He also said the number one, two and three drainage canals at Crabwood Creek have been rehabilitated and very soon earthen works will commence there.

These canals, the Chairman noted, will link with the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) main canal, providing irrigation water for farmers affected by the prevailing dry weather.

Apart from the multi-million dollar Crabwood Creek project, Mustapha said earthen works on the rehabilitation of canals in the Number 52 to 74 areas will begin next week.

He disclosed that more than 25 canals are listed to be rehabilitated; and on that score, as long as 50 to 75 per cent of the earthen works are completed, civil works will commence on projects there.

The Crabwood Creek project is part of a wider $1.2 B programme to improve drainage and irrigation structures and access roads at the Vergenogen/Bonasika, Den Amstel/Fellowship and Vreed-en-Hoop/La Jalousie areas in Region Three (West Demerara/ Essequibo Islands) and Golden Grove/Victoria, Region Four, (Demerara/Mahaica).

The Vergenoegen/Bonasika, Den Amstel/Fellowship initiative has 20 months duration, Crabwood Creek 15 months, and the Vreed-en-Hoop/ La Jalousie and Golden Grove/Victoria projects one year each.

This newspaper made several attempts to contact officials from Regions Three and Four to provide an update on the works of the projects there, but efforts proved futile.

The contracts involve the installation of 12 main head regulators, 30 secondary head regulators, 37 secondary check structures, 13 secondary tail regulators, 17 secondary culverts, one main tail regulator, 12 main outfall sluices, two secondary inverted siphons, 80 bridges and 112 kilometers of farm-to-market roads.

These are expected to increase farmers’ productivity as well as their economic status.
They are being supervised by BK International and Roopan Ramotar Investments, and monitored by project staff as well as internal and external supervisors.

Other D&I works being pursued are the rehabilitation of pump stations in Regions Four and Six, rehabilitation of D&I control structures and access roads in Canals Number One and Two Polder, and D&I systems at Cane Grove, Black Bush Polder.

Altogether, these undertakings seek to raise income of farmers on the coastal plain through increasing efficiency of agricultural production.

Specifically, the aim is to rehabilitate D&I structures, organise farmers to operate and maintain these structures, and support rice research and agriculture diversification.