PRIME Minister Philip J Pierre has issued a stern warning to the contractor of the Millennium Highway Rehabilitation Project, vowing that there will be consequences if the project is not finished.
The Millennium Highway Project has experienced serious delays and motorists have long expressed their frustration with the slow pace of the project.
At the opening ceremony of the Piaye Bridge this week, Pierre said that “government is not pleased and this year we have to take a decisive step to ensure that the work on the Millennium Highway progresses, because in the final analysis the people who get blamed are politicians and I make no bones about it.”
The agreement to embark on the road maintenance project was signed between 2018 to 2019 and the project was scheduled to be completed by March last year.
However, the projected is still far from being completed.
Said Pierre: “We (government) are the ones who will get the blame for the Millenium Highway. I’ve summoned the contractors to my office next week ready to tell them that they will have to shape up and will have to start work. I get criticized when I say I don’t interfere with these things but this time I will not interfere; this time I will instruct. We have to get this road done, we have to complete it and if we don’t complete it there will be consequences.”
In August of last year, Infrastructure Minister Stephenson King , who Pierre claimed is also unhappy with the situation, said government was moving expeditiously to complete road repairs on the highway despite some technical delays affecting the progress.
Numerous individuals have taken to social media to complain about the situation which to date is still affecting motorists.
King (in August) said, “we have spoken to the CDB and we have made some changes in terms of the project management approach. There are weekly meetings with the CDB, Ministry of Infrastructure , consultants and the project management team but that does not seem to be working in terms of further expediting the process or to at least reduce the lag time that we have encountered.”
Because of that, government is now contemplating what its options are. Can we continue with the contractor, does the grant loan agreement allow us to terminate the contract and if we were to proceed with termination, what are the implications considering that the project is not funded by the Government of Saint Lucia,” King added.
The minister made it clear that government will not tolerate the situation, saying, based on the slowness that we have been experiencing over the last two or three years that cannot continue.
Works on the Millennium Highway is being implemented through a United Kingdom (UK) grant with terms and conditions applicable.
(M.A.)
Back in the mid-1970’s the British sent their own people (Crown Agent) to construct the East Coast highway. Why not this time with the Millennium highway?