Was Approved Design Ignored at Canery Wharf Near Corozal Central Park?

A major feature of the newly revitalized Corozal Central Park is being torn down before the public can fully enjoy it. An independent engineering assessment found serious structural problems with sections of the Canery Wharf, including work that reportedly strayed from the approved design. Engineers have recommended demolishing and rebuilding the affected areas, raising tough questions about construction standards, oversight and who will pay to correct the mistakes. Officials maintain that the defects are limited to the wharf and do not affect the wider park project. This morning, Area Representative Thea Garcia Ramirez said corrective work is already underway.

 

Thea Garcia Ramirez, Area Representative, Corozal Bay

“I am glad you asked, because I know people have a lot of questions. Like with any project, sometimes there are setbacks, but I think that is why we have supervision. I think that the engineers who were supervising did their job, in that they caught defects in works, they caught it on time and the contractor was given time as per any standard contract, to repair and to go back and say, and to cure the breach in contract and to repair what was not deemed acceptable by the engineer in terms of work. I am not an engineer, so you have to get these people that know about these things to come in and do the evaluation. And, as with every contract, you have to give the contractor time to cure, and if they are unable or unwilling, the contract has to be broken, but there is a legal process for that and I am not a lawyer either, so we leave that to that and after the process went through now we have somebody else working on it, working closely with an engineer and so we can see the works progressing.”

 

There has been no official information published on how much money was lost because of the construction blunder.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

Watch the full newscast here: