The Tribune

FORMER Minister of State for the Environment Phenton Neymour said attempts by Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis to blame the former government for leaks found in Water and Sewerage Corporation service lines show how “desperate” the PLP has become.

Mr Neymour said the governing party is aware that after only a year in office, the Bahamian people have lost faith in it.

For this reason, he said, PLP officials continue to blame the FNM at any opportunity, all in an attempt to mask their “clear incompetence and failed promises”.

“The Deputy Prime Minister in his devious attempt could not run from the truth and admitted many facts which in itself demonstrate that the FNM’s infrastructural programme was managed by the FNM government professionally and with full accountability.

“Minister Davis admitted the following: the WSC requested the replacement of 214 service laterals on existing water mains and provided the materials, 19 of which were found with leaks – 12 on Baillou Hill Road, five on Market Street and two on Robinson Road.

“The consulting engineers who were hired to oversee the project brought in a water engineer to investigate the leaks and found no additional leaks.

“Two additional reports were produced but not released to the public.

“Yet the Deputy Prime Minister tabled a briefing paper by the consulting engineer.

“The root causes of the leaks are being investigated by the manufacturer and laboratory tests were conducted on the fittings.”

He added that Mott Mac Donald, the project engineer, will continue lab testing and investigations of the failed elbows and prepare a final report for determining the liability and options to address the installed laterals.

“The premature and irresponsible accusation by Minister Davis shows his lack of understanding of the technical faults and his government’s political drive to blame someone. How can the minister blame the FNM when the investigation is not completed?” Mr Neymour asked.

While the full technical laboratory analysis has not been completed, the former minister said the manufacturer’s analysis has indicated that extreme pressure had been applied on the leaking fittings by an external force or that the material had been weakened somehow. It also found that the fittings had been subjected to high levels of chlorine which made them brittle.

Mr Neymour said: “Essentially, responsibility has yet to be assigned to any of the following seven parties: those involved in providing the fittings (WSC); those approving the installation design; the engineering company responsible for the management of the project (Mott MacDonald); the engineering team in the ministry of Public Works who had oversight of the project; the contractor, Jose Cartellone Construcciones Civiles’ (JCCC), who had responsibility for installing the fittings in accordance with international and manufacturers’ standards; the engineers on the project site who were responsible for the proper installations; or the team responsible for the pressure and disinfection testing of the service laterals to insure that they were meeting international standards.

“Noting that chlorine is used for disinfection, this was found in excess by the laboratory, potentially causing the weakening of the fitting. Currently, there are arguments between the engineering teams and the manufacturer as to which engineering team is liable.”