Enmore call centre still unfinished

-despite ministry assurance

While the Minister of Business had promised that all projects under the Rural Development Fund would have been completed by June last, nearly a year later, the Enmore Call Centre remains unfinished, with questions being raised about the nature of the agreement with the contractor.

The Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Business, Rajdai Jagarnauth related at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on Monday that there are still works ongoing externally, including to the fence and bridges and compound, as well as corrections internally, as damage had occurred to the building.

She stated that there is no fixed date for its completion, but it is envisaged that within two months’ time it will be completed.

Asked by Chairman of the PAC, Irfaan Ali whether liquidated damages had been applied, Jagarnauth replied in the negative but said that this was being looked at by the consultant. This comment raised concerns for Ali, who noted that the partnership with the consultant should have ended when the project was supposed to have been completed.

The PS, however, after being asked, said that she does believe that liquidated damages are justifiable in this situation, and it is something to be pursued.

She did however note that the bond between the entities was not extended.

“Do you know that that’s a complete breach of the process? You don’t have a contract now. How are you going to hold this contractor accountable? His bond has not been extended, that’s the most important thing. You told me you have improved,” Ali reprimanded, before proceeding to ask the Auditor General to have his engineers look into the matter.

The Enmore Call Centre was one of three projects under the Rural Development Fund, started by the previous administration, which the Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin had said, the government would have pursued.

In his 2016 budget speech in February last year, Gaskin had noted that the projects initially consisted of the construction of two call centres in Tuschen and Enmore, and two chip factories in Leguan and Wakenaam, but the Wakenaam chip factory project would not have been pursued due to environmental concerns.

Gaskin had stated that this was so because the factory “was built on land that was deemed by the Sea Defence Board to be prone to flooding and erosion, and therefore poses a risk to the entire operation.”

According to the Auditor General’s 2015 Report, $134.876 million had been budgeted for September to December 2015, for the completion of call centres at Tuschen and Enmore, and factory buildings at Leguan and Wakenaam, and the purchase of chip processing machines, as well as consultancy services for the projects.

As of December 2015, $96.726 million had been expended on the completion of the call centres at Tuschen and Enmore, the factory buildings at Leguan and Wakenaam, the purchasing of the processing machines and consultancy services.

In the Minister’s budget speech he had further stated that the $195 million budget attributed to the rural projects would have allowed for their completion by June 2016, and that their completion could potentially create employment for more than 600 persons.

Jagarnauth relayed on Monday that the Leguan Plantain Chip Factory should be operational by the end of June. The PS reported that while the factory is complete, they were in the process of identifying an occupant. She stated that there had been three responses to a request for Expression of Interest and they are being evaluated.

When asked by PAC member Pauline Sukhai why the Wakenaam project had been discontinued, the PS began to explain that there had been a review conducted in 2015. Her explanation was cut short by Ali, who requested a copy of the review, and asked that the Auditor General have his engineer examine the report, and visit the site, along with [representatives from] the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.

“I was there yesterday by the way…and they told me they had a meeting with the engineer and the engineer said that—this is what the people reported—that everything is sound with the factory. So they don’t understand what is happening. And the RDC raised it…three motions were tabled in the RDC by councillors and it was unanimously supported, I think in one instance, for us to proceed with this factory. Local democracy must be important to us. Then the NDC raised it also…” Ali had stated.

Sukhai had also asked whether the review had identified any alternative options for enterprise development which would carry the same level of opportunities for the population, to which Jagarnauth responded in the negative, stating that as far as her knowledge goes, there has been no proposal for an alternative industry in Wakenaam and none are currently being considered by the ministry.