Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed is questioning the continued delay of the $800 million Jimbo Pump Station at Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara, even as the same contractor, Platinum Investments Inc., has been awarded a new contract for the construction of the Zeelugt Market.
Mohamed raised the concerns during a visit to the Jimbo Pump Station site yesterday, where he said the project remains far from completion despite having been contracted in 2023 with an original completion target of early 2025.
The project was awarded to Platinum Investments Inc and was intended to improve drainage for communities along the East Bank.
Mohamed said he visited the site in April and returned this month, finding that the pump station was still incomplete. “This is how the PPP is managing our taxpayers’ dollars,” Mohamed said, noting that the project could not realistically be completed by the end of this year based on its current state.
He pointed to the unfinished pump station, saying the structure remained essentially a shell and that the pumps had not yet been installed.
On Friday, it was disclosed by the Ministry of Local Government that Platinum Investments Inc is one of four contractors who will be working on the $1.398b Zeelugt Market.
This has been a recurring issue for the PPP/C government where it has been pointed out that contractors on delayed projects are being assigned new ones.
Mohamed also raised concerns about the abandonment of an existing koker which, according to him, had served the surrounding communities for decades and functioned as a major drainage outlet. He said the koker was abandoned to facilitate construction of the pump station, leaving communities including Grove, Diamond, Samatha Point and Kaneville vulnerable to flooding. “We had a working koker for decades,” Mohamed said. “They damaged this koker, abandoned the koker, just to facilitate this contract.”
He also pointed to the condition of the canal and nearby burial ground, alleging that several tombs were damaged during the project. “Even the dead can’t rest in peace,” Mohamed said, while pointing to what he described as damage caused to tombs.
The Opposition Leader warned that the unfinished drainage infrastructure could pose a greater problem when the rainy season intensifies, given the pump station’s intended role in draining the surrounding communities.
He also pointed to a temporary pump being used at the site, noting that taxpayers are now bearing the cost of pumping water into the Demerara River because the former koker is no longer functioning as it once did.
Mohamed questioned why a contractor whose project at Jimbo remains incomplete would be awarded another major government contract. “So this is how they would reward and award (people). He cannot complete this one, but they still give him another contract to construct (a part of) the Zeelugt Market.”
Mohamed cited the Princes Street project as another example, alleging that road safety measures remained inadequate. He called on Platinum Investments and Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha to ensure that the Jimbo project is completed.
In February this year, Mustapha had told Parliament that the project was 78% completed.
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