Work on the Specialty Hospital site at Turkeyen seems to have once again ground to a halt, close to six weeks after a rush to deposit sand there.

When Stabroek News visited the site yesterday afternoon, the gates were closed and security personnel at nearby properties said the compound has been that way ever since the sand was supplied.

Piles of sand were in the compound, but did not look as if they were being used to landfill the site.

Efforts to contact Minister of Health Dr Bheri Ramsaran for an update on the project proved futile.

It was Ramsaran who last month said that the project was “alive and well” and the Ministry of Health was looking to work with contractor G Bovell and Sons to speed-up preparatory works for the start of construction of the 250-bed Specialty Hospital.

The site of the Specialty Hospital at Turkeyen as it was as yesterday afternoon. A signboard (inset) has now been erected at the site.

Ramsaran said the preparatory work was on stream due to favourable weather conditions. “Further to that you have a good vision now of the scope of the project- the land is clear and the contractor Bovell was on site and we are hoping that we could work with him to speed up some of the works that need to be done,” Ramsaran was reported as saying by the Government Information Agency (GINA).

GINA also said some concrete works seemed to be at a standstill and that Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Leslie Cadogan would be looking at how the ministry can work better with the contractor to speed up this aspect.

While work had appeared stalled for most of last year, in January there was a hive of activity at the location. G Bovell and Sons was awarded the $98 million contract for preparatory works at the site for the hospital, including land filling and preparation, building of the fence to the property, laying of drains, installation of four bridges and gates as entrances and exits and an access road. The duration given for the completion of the site preparation was three months. However, after one year it is still unclear what is responsible for the work not being completed.

On December 22, 2012, an advertisement appeared in the Guyana Chronicle for sand for the project.

The ad was published two days after Stabroek News had reported that the project appeared stalled as a result of a hitch in the Indian financing, following controversy over how the contract was awarded.

AlthoughUS$18,180,000 ($3,689,616,400) contract to design, build and equip the hospital was awarded to the Indian company Surendra Engineering, Stabroek News was reliably informed that the money had not yet been released. Government is solely responsible for preparing the site before the actual building of the hospital commences. The money to design, build and equip the state-of-the-art medical facility will come from the Government of India, through a line of credit of up to US$20 million ($4 billion).

The project has come under fire, with one of the bidders, Fedders Lloyd, and both parliamentary opposition groups calling for a probe into the award. They had raised objections to the award of the contract to Surendra and local authorities were also forced to defend the manner in which the final decision was made. Further they charged that the procurement process was biased and that the company awarded had no experience in building hospitals, and specifically a specialty hospital, which would require skilled engineering and technical work.