BK was not assigned to work in area where GTT cables were located

BK was not assigned to work in area where GTT cables were located

The Ministry of Public Works has indicated that the area, in which BK International equipment may have caused damages to GT&T’s fibre optic cable along the East Bank Highway Expansion Project, was not assigned by the Consultants to the project for works to be executed by the contractor, BK International.

On Tuesday September 16, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) said that thanks to BK International, thousands of its customers as far away as West Bank and West Coast of Demerara, East Bank Essequibo and the Essequibo Coast were affected, while another fibre damage, also detected along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway resulted in the disruption of telephone service to numerous communities in Linden as well as Ituni, Kwakwani, Mahdia and Mabura.

BK International was award the contract to construct the new Highway which will alleviate traffic congestion on the East Bank but GT&T said works on the road has resulted in occasioned repeated cable cuts, in excess of ten times  since 2011 and is of tremendous concern to GT&T and inconveniences the company’s customers and the country at large.

The Ministry of Public Works in a statement issued today stated they (the Ministry) “will continue consultations with the Consultant, Contractor and GT&T with respect to the timely scheduled removal of the cable which is also contingent on financing approvals”

BK International and GT&T are at odds over the removal of the cables and in what can be deemed as a move of defiance or retaliation, the telecommunication giant planted a new pole in the center of a new carriageway on Tuesday, which effectively halted construction on a significant section of the East Bank Four- Lane Extension Project (the area between the Diamond Intersection and the Diamond DSL Supermarket).

In a series of Press Releases since the incident on Tuesday, both entities played the ‘blame game’ with GT&T noting that “the consequential damage to the company’s network infrastructure, especially our buried cables, is disruptive to our business, cost millions to restore, inconveniences our customers, undermines revenue generation, and can potentially compromise national security”

The contractor – BK International – on the other hand said “BK International crews were working on the new carriageway when an old GT&T pole collapsed. No BK employees were injured as a result of the collapse but some telephone services on the East Bank were reportedly disrupted. When GT&T crews responded, workers from BK International rendered assistance to pull up the ruptured buried cable”

Filed: 18th September, 2014

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