| The contractor of the $242M fuel wharf and lines at Vreed-en-Hoop has blamed the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) for the delays.Yesterday, BK International insisted that design changes and other modifications by GPL have all contributed to the delays.The fuel lines and new wharf were critical to the operations of GPL’s new 26 megawatts power plant at West Bank Demerara. It was the plan for fuel boats to pull alongside and using pipelines, oil would be pumped to tanks there.The power plant was commissioned on Monday by President Donald Ramotar with the wharf and fuel lines not yet in operation. GPL is forced to truck up to 20 tankers across the Demerara Harbour Bridge. The tankers are only able to fetch about quarter of their capacity because of weight restrictions on the bridge.GPL’s Chief Executive Officer,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, Bharat Dindyal, disclosed that it will take up to six weeks before the wharf and fuel lines are put into use.On Tuesday, GPL officials said that they had not ruled out seeking liquidated damages against BK International, the contractor for the wharf.GPL Chairman,China NFL Jerseys, Winston Brassington, said that the entity was not happy with the situation but rather than have the new plant waiting for the wharf,Cheap NFL Jerseys Online, the decision was taken to truck the fuel in the meantime. It is costing GPL.Yesterday, BK International said that it is surprised by statements by Brassington. “We are surprised that Mr. Brassington failed to acknowledge that there are delays on all sides, including the employer, GPL. It must be noted that current delays in completion of the fuel lines are primarily related to design changes on the project,Jerseys From China, including changes in the diameter from 10 inches to 12 inches and changes in the elevation.”BK claimed that the design changes often result in procurement delays that add substantial time increases to the project. As of yesterday, there were 11 documented changes sent from GPL.This is in addition to changes not documented. The latest documented change was as recent as January 28, 2015.BK International said that it wrote to GPL on January 23, and on January 26 requesting instructions on how to proceed given the critical challenges to the pipeline elevation resulting from the elevations shown in the design drawing.“On January 24,http://www.soccerpro.us.com/AC-Milan-FC/, GPL replied instructing BK to make the necessary changes. On January 26, BK wrote again to GPL to remind the Project Manager that the responsibility of the contractor was to build according to the approved design and not to make design changes. GPL is yet to reply.”BK said that the changes have contributed to overruns in both time and cost and in some cases the cost overruns have been born by the contractor.“The last major activity to be conducted is the pickling of the pipeline to ensure that it is free of contaminants before fuel is allowed to enter the tanks that serve the power station. This process is also being affected by design issues and changes.“BK is currently awaiting responses from GPL on modifications to pipe supports along the access road.”BK’s Group Chairman, Brian Tiwarie,Cheap Jerseys Online, yesterday was highly critical. He said that “the time has come for ministries, agencies and Government-owned corporations to improve their capacity to properly supervise and manage projects and stop blaming the contractors every time there is a problem.”He added that where there is shared responsibility, officials should be honest enough to say so and when they have failed they should not be above admitting the failure. |
