St Lucia Electricity Services Limited’s (LUCELEC) Managing Director, Gilroy Pultie has reaffirmed the power company’s commitment to public safety and open dialogue.
Pultie made the comments in response to recent public statements from contractor on the Norbert Road Rehabilitation Project, Rayneau Gajadhar, who accused LUCELEC of failing to address costs concerns and public safety.
Gajadhar said his team moved forward with construction after four formal requests for an official cost breakdown – following a quoted estimate of $554,878.86 from the Saint Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) – were denied.
In a statement issued on Friday, Pultie maintained that the electricity company’s estimates are prepared using established and standardised procedures.
“We use best practice procurement practices, and construct to international standards and over the years, we have developed standard unit rates for material and labour that is applied consistently for all jobs.
“The company also has the responsibility to manage its costs very prudently, otherwise it could translate to the tariff and while one can always argue that LUCELEC can absorb these costs, if we were to do so, these costs would be passed on to the consumers,” Pultie explained.
“For that reason, costs like the relocation of lines associated with road works should be treated and passed on to the government or agency, or the contractor as part of the project costs.”
Pultie said the costs provided to the contractor reflects the scope of work on the project which includes the relocation of an estimated 21 to 25 electrical poles and parts of the existing distribution network.
He said future projects associated with the LUCELEC would be handled more diligently.
“Going forward, projects like this need to be managed more responsibly. And what I mean by that is there needs to be more planning, and coordination among all the stakeholders, including LUCELEC, to avoid situations like this where our infrastructure becomes hazards to the public,” Pultie said.
“That should never happen again and LUCELEC will do all in its power to ensure that this is avoided going forward.”
LUCELEC continues to engage in ongoing dialogue with both the contractor and the Ministry of Infrastructure, which is overseeing the project’s implementation. These discussions are standard practice for projects of this nature.
“It is a fact that we provided a total cost to the contractor and he questioned the cost, said it was very high and requested a breakdown of that cost,” Pultie disclosed.
“Over the last week or two, we have been in discussion with the Ministry responsible for the project and the contractor regarding the costing of the project. We have subsequently provided a further breakdown of the cost, and it is under discussion. We expect that the ministry will accept what we have provided and provide feedback in the next day or two.”
The estimate provided for the Norbert Road Rehabilitation Project is based on key technical information, including updated road profiles, landowner details for affected parcels of land, and updated civil works designs.
These elements help determine where and how electrical poles could be safely repositioned. LUCELEC remains committed to working with all stakeholders to support the safe and efficient completion of the relocation works in the coming days.
I overstand you clearly, Mr Pultie.
Is it a situation where the left is blaming the right. The poles positioned in the road way is a danger to public safety and road users, so please do the necessary before it’s too, late.
I concur, Senior.