BASSETERRE St. Kitts, November 21st 2011 - The Labour Government is spending its time in CHURCH STREET creating zones or neighbourhoods of COST OVERRUNS. It is intent on making these so-called overruns our acceptable feature of public business. Consistent with this the prime minister has said that DESPITE COST OVERRUNS the BEACON HEIGHTS-SOCIAL SECURITY-CONTEC (AND WHO ELSE?) HOUSING PROJECT will be a success: success or albatross?
Cost Overruns imply that a project is meeting its timetable or HAS BEEN COMPLETED, BEYOND BUDGETARY PROJECTIONS, WITHOUT EMBEZZLEMENT, CORRUPTION AND NOT DUE TO IMCOMPETENCE AND POOR DECISIONS. Political decisions, fiscal mismanagement, cronyism are the order of the day under this Labour government. In trying to lie and make excuses Dr. Douglas is openly admitting that his administration carries a brand marked INCOMPETENCE & INEFFICIENCY.
Even if BEACON HEIGHTS is an issue of COST OVERRUNS it cannot go unnoticed that NOT A SINGLE HOME HAS BEEN COMPLETED. BEACON HEIGHTS HAS BECOME WELL KNOWN FOR RUNNING WATER OR WATER EROSION. As much as Dr. Douglas and others are lying and confusing themselves, Dr. Douglas has now come around to admitting that Ms. Lawrence has been right. When unacceptable factors or reasons delay a project, there will be cost overruns because world prices for essential materials and Labour cost rise. Added to this, fuel costs are in general on the increase and general inflation.
It must not be forgotten that some time ago the Public Works Department offered to build the Carifesta Roads for around $800,000.00. However, another company got the same job for over 1.5 million dollars. This is the Douglas-type COST OVERRUN i.e., A company or somebody running away with public money.
As to Douglas-Type Cost Over-Runs Beacon Heights And the By-pass road are in the same Neighbourhood and have the same ZIP CODE. The by-pass road, initially projected at 17 million has gobbled up nearly 40 million. The South East Peninsula road was cut through HARD BEDROCK and completed in an acceptable time, within acceptable budgeting parameters.
Dr. Douglas has to explain to the people exactly what role have COST OVERRUNS had or are playing in WHITE GATE AND LA VALLEE. As far as the government has made known there is presently a WHITE GATE BOARD which is being paid. White Gate has been a Phantom project or pregnancy while La Vallee, after consuming 250 million dollars has been dead and embalmed behind a green fence. The Labour government is incurring tremendous COSTS OVERRUNS growing grass and having grass OVERRUN, running away with La Vallee. Based on rates of inflation, Labour and material costs, interest rates, if ever WHITE GATE or LA VALLEE is RESURRECTED. It will be at a COST TEN or MORE TIMES what the price would have been in 1995 or 2003.
Dr. Douglas again has to explain to the people if it was a COST OVERRUN why nearly 100 million dollars of SIDF money had to pumped into KITTITIAN HILL/HEIGHTS to resuscitate it. Dr. Douglas has said that the absence of the main HOTEL of CHRISTOPHE HARBOUR is impeding the project.
It shows the type of business or contracts the Labour government engages itself in. That hotel should have at first been in place and the region developed around it. By the time Christophe Harbour comes to pass (we hope) the cost to St. Kitts could be a hundred fold.
An acceptable feature of the BEACON HEIGHTS-SOCIAL SECURITY-CONTEC engagement is that Social Security, the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have all said that the matter cannot be taken to Court because this will stop the project. This raises the question of the type of lawyers that Social Security employs or smears the good lawyers of this country undeservedly. What kind of contract could Social Security accept when millions of dollars are involved, the company is not performing or delivering, YET Social Security is afraid or cannot go to Court? While Social Security is dragging its feet on or unwilling to TERMINATE THE CONTRACT, THERE WILL BE COST OVERRUNS.
The PAM-NRP government put solid land where water once existed. Credit to Robert Bradshaw, he removed a hill and put down an international airport. Establishing Port Zante must be as featly but certainly a task of much greater difficulty – an affront to nature. Port Zante came to pass in acceptable time with acceptable added expenditure and had adequate insurance. The Court House, Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College, all the schools were completed in acceptable time and comfortably within budget. It is this efficiency in spending money why many world agencies were comfortable in aiding the P.A.M. government.
Foreigners have always been influential in saving St. Kitts-Mrs.
Lawrence might be the latest. In another memo she is warning those who think that Social Security has an infinite amount of money. Maybe this is why Denzil Douglas is asking the people to take COST OVERRUNS as nothing to be bothered about. COST OVERRUNS, ME A..!
It seems as if what the Labour party and Social Security are unwilling to do the courts may do because it is said that one of the entities has been placed in RECEIVERSHIP.
The Court will always have to intervene when Labour has its hand on anything – the Courts will stop the COST OVERRUNS. In his recent “ASK THE PRIME MINISTER” Dr. Douglas was his usual arrogant, St. Paul’s self.
He looked at the people and said that HE THOUGHT THE Social Security Board-Beacon Heights-CONTEC issue was laid to rest. However, the Courts are doing that much to keep the matter breathing.
THE LAWRENCE LETTERS/MEMOS are such Iconic documents that they may be approaching the category of the magna carte. They should be framed and put in the national museum, or the new building named the Bradshaw-Lawrence building. Mrs. Lawrence answers Mighty Contender’s calypso question, i.e., “WHO GON GUARD DE GUARD?” Here’s asking Lady Lawrence to keep on keeping her eyes on the Social Security money – GUARD DE GUARD!
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