-Belle Vue finish pushed into 2027

Two major pump station projects on the West Bank of Demerara remain incomplete, with the Belle Vue facility now projected to be completed in March 2027 and become operational the following month, while the Pouderoyen project remains unfinished more than two years after construction began.

At Belle Vue, during a recent site visit by the political party VPAC, GAICO Construction and General Services Inc. CEO Komal Singh explained some of the technical challenges that have contributed to delays at the $865m project.

Singh said the site, which is located close to housing and the river dam, has presented significant difficulties because of tidal activity, the rainy season and saturated soil. 

Singh said the excavation extends more than 25 feet deep and that crews removed approximately 500 loads of soil after encountering unusual ground movement, including soil that was heaving upward from below rather than simply collapsing from the sides.

Singh said several stepped layers of revetment have since been installed along the riverside to help hold back the water and protect the dam.

Singh’s explanation will raise further questions about whether geotechnical investigations of the area were done prior to the project being designed.

He maintained that the structural design is strong, with numerous piles driven into the ground and a significant factor of safety incorporated because of the uncertainty surrounding the soil conditions.

Singh said the project has become more manageable during drier conditions and told VPAC that the project should be completed by March 2027, with the facility potentially becoming operational by April 2027.

In July this year, Singh had assured Kiskadee Watch thatthe project would finally be completed in December 2026. This is yet a further delay of a contract that was controversially awarded to  Tepui Group Inc headed by social media personality Mikhail Rodrigues who had never built a pump station before. Works were subsequently placed under GAICO as a subcontractor arrangement when Tepui fell far behind the deadline. Tepui remains contractually responsible for the project.

The project has previously come under scrutiny, including findings by the Public Procurement Commission and issues raised by the Auditor General concerning payments and the recovery of monies from the original contractor.

The contract, signed on September 22, 2023 with Rodrigues, carried an original completion period of 18 months.

The 2024 Auditor General’s Report noted that 93.7 per cent of the mobilisation advance paid to the original contractor, Tepui Group Inc., had not yet been recovered.

Kiskadee Watch had contacted Auditor General Deodat Sharma, in July this year who confirmed that engineers within his office were currently examining the figures as part of the preparation of the 2025 Public Accounts Report which was submitted on Friday to Parliament office.

Sharma said the report will address the outstanding mobilisation advance paid under the Belle Vue pump station contract.

According to the 2024 Auditor General’s Report, the contract was awarded for $870.563 million against an engineer’s estimate of $779.199 million. The report also found that Tepui failed to satisfy nine of the 18 qualification requirements contained in the evaluation criteria. It further revealed that the initial award of $865.544 million was rescinded before the same contractor was re-awarded the project for an increased sum of $870.564 million, approximately $5 million higher than its original bid.

The Auditor General also reported that by August 2024, $160.894 million had been paid to the contractor despite limited physical progress on the project.

Visited

Meanwhile, Kiskadee Watch visited the Pouderoyen pump station, where construction remains incomplete.

The $981.2 million project was awarded to Spectre Construction Inc. and was originally an 18-month contract, with completion expected in July 2025.

Kiskadee Watch was told by a source that Spectre Construction was subsequently granted an extension to complete the project.

Construction began in January 2024, and the project has faced a series of delays, with difficult site conditions including high tides, fluctuating water levels, heavy rainfall and the fragile condition of the nearby dam previously identified as challenges.

The Auditor General’s report recorded that $332.419 million had been paid to the contractor as of August 31, 2025, while earlier physical verification found works still ongoing, including revetment, excavation, earthworks and piling.

The delays have continued to concern residents in the area, particularly because flooding remains a problem.

During Kiskadee Watch’s visit, residents complained that whenever rain falls, flooding still occurs in the area.

One resident said it has now been more than two years that the pump station has been sitting at the site.

A source familiar with the project also told Kiskadee Watch that, despite the length of time the facility has been under construction, “there is nothing operational about it as yet it’s just a shell sitting here”.

The Pouderoyen facility was among several pump stations identified as part of efforts to strengthen drainage capacity and mitigate flooding in vulnerable communities along the West Bank of Demerara.

The project has also previously attracted scrutiny over its procurement and Spectre Construction’s experience. At the time of earlier reporting, the company had not previously constructed a pump station, although it had undertaken other government projects.

The Auditor General also reported that the project’s advance-payment bond and performance bond had expired.

Although the Agriculture Ministry reported in February 2026 that the Pouderoyen sluice and pump station was 89% complete, Kiskadee Watch’s latest visit found that the facility remains unfinished and, according to a source, is not yet operational.

With both projects still incomplete, residents along the West Bank continue to await the full operation of two major pieces of drainage infrastructure intended to help reduce flooding in their communities.