No work stoppage

WORK CONTINUED apace on all of the other major construction projects in Port-of-Spain yesterday in the aftermath of Wednesday’s accident at the site of the new Customs and Excise Division building on Wrightson Road.

Some 20 workers escaped death on that site when steel scaffolding, over 100 feet above the ground, collapsed. While there was no activity at the Customs and Excise site, which also borders Ajax Street, yesterday, apart from investigators surveying the scene of the accident, construction activity was proceeding full speed ahead at all of the other construction projects in the vicinity.

These are the government campus on Richmond Street, and the international waterfront project also on Wrightson Road (opposite the Customs site).

NH International Caribbean Ltd (NHIC) executive chairman Emile Elias, whose company is the main contractor for the Customs building, told Newsday that no work was taking place on the site yesterday. Elias said an inspector from the Ministry of Labour went on site and he is hoping some interior work could take place today.

Attempts to either enter the site or gain access to any of the other surrounding buildings to take photos of the ongoing investigations were unsuccessful as security guards in these areas denied access to photographers.

Asked whether Wednesday’s accident has resulted in NHIC reviewing safety procedures on any of its other construction projects, including the new Education Ministry building, part of the government campus on Richmond Street, Elias said all of the necessary safety measures are in place.

He said Wednesday’s accident was not a safety issue but an issue of finding out what caused the scaffolding to collapse. Elias reiterated that the scaffolding used on the site was imported from the United Kingdom and is inspected on a regular basis.

Noting that the Customs building is scheduled for completion in November, Elias said the accident may set construction back by a week but he was still optimistic of meeting the original deadline. Elias said he is closely monitoring the medical condition of the injured workers and NHIC is handling compensation matters as well as counselling for them and other workers.

At the site of the Legal Affairs Ministry building, also part of the government campus project, Sunway Construction Caribbean project manager Teo Poh Heng said work was continuing as scheduled. He said his company conforms rigidly to the Occupational Safety and Health Act and site managers have daily safety briefings and once a month there is a general safety meeting of Sunway, its subcontractors and the site workers.

Poh Heng added that Sunway has spent some $200,000 to date on safety equipment for and the safety training of workers.

The waterfront project site was also a beehive of construction activity yesterday. Officials at French contractor Bouygues Batiment and other site managers were engaged in a series of meetings yesterday but sources said there has been no slowdown in construction following Wednesday’s accident.

A notice board at the site suggested that safety was a top priority with 880,955 man hours being worked on the waterfront without a serious accident. Approximately 636 construction workers are employed on the waterfront project.