Performance to determine SCHIP subcontractors in next round
Published:Saturday | January 21, 2023 | 12:53 AMJudana Murphy/Gleaner Writer
The National Works Agency (NWA) has asserted that the remainder of the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP) will be awarded to the best teams, amid challenges with some of the current subcontractors.
St Andrew South East Member of Parliament Julian Robinson raised concerns about the absence of – or poor – project management during Thursday’s sitting of Parliament’s Infrastructure and Physical Development Committee.
In response, NWA CEO E.G. Hunter explained that each subcontractor works in a discrete area and there is no need to liaise with each other.
“The public only recognises road construction when paving is done. Anything before that is an annoyance, and it is in the nature of the business. You don’t go out there on day one and start paving. That is the last thing you do,” Hunter said.
But Robinson was not satisfied with his response, and argued that, while contractors do not need to liaise, his experience was that significant parts of the road were not suitable or safe for driving while drainage, retaining walls and other works were being carried out.
“The issue of project management comes in, in the sense that, was that the best way to manage the entire stretch, given that you are co-existing with the people who live there, with the people who have businesses there and the people who still have to drive on the road?” he questioned.
Hunter said that problem was also identified by the NWA and noted that the cause was not because of a lack of planning and coordination.
He explained that the contract obligates the main contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), to sublet the 15 local packages, and that CHEC is responsible for the performance of subcontractors.
Last November, CHEC implemented a system to receive weekly milestone-based reports from the subcontractors on the project.
“I can say with certainty that the main contractor has taken over an appreciable amount of the work that was prior to the responsibility of subcontractors … . Contractually, the Government looks to the main contractor to deliver the goods, and, if the goods are not being delivered, you go to the main contractor, which is what we have done, and that process continues as recent as yesterday (Wednesday),” Hunter explained.
The NWA CEO added that CHEC has assessed each package, examined the NWA’s complaints, and has stepped in to make good on the deficiencies.
“The element from Harbour View to Yallahs is being done by China Harbour and that segment has been going very well. It’s 87 per cent complete and on schedule for completion in March of this year,” he said.
Hunter explained that the remainder of the project is split into 10 packages and the latest reports indicate that they are at different stages of completion.
“We let another five packages and those are scheduled for completion in July. So, come July, 10 of the 15 packages will be completed. There are five more packages to be let and the lessons we have learnt from the first 10 packages will be carried over. The contract obligates the Government to see to it that CHEC utilises local subcontractors, but we will now have a better idea of who those local subcontractors ought to be for the other five packages, just based on performance,” Hunter said.