Repair work begins at Torrington Park Housing; Gov’t rejects ‘misleading’ comments by Golding
Repair work begins at Torrington Park Housing; Gov’t rejects ‘misleading’ comments by Golding . 
The Jamaica Observer
Firefighters assist one of the residents of Torrington Park Housing Scheme in St Andrew to make his way to the ground floor of an apartment building after a section of a staircase collapsed on Sunday.

The Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEGJC) says corrective work on the Torrington Park Housing Scheme, where a staircase recently collapsed, will begin Tuesday. It also dismissed as misleading suggestions made by Opposition Leader Mark Golding that the ministry has been tardy in moving to address infrastructural challenges at the facility.

Golding, the Member of Parliament for St Andrew South, where the incident occurred, says Sunday afternoon’s staircase collapse at the housing complex, during which an elderly woman was injured, could have been avoided if his alleged years of warnings were heeded.

WATCH: Golding says Torrington Park staircase collapse was avoidable

However, in a release late Monday, the MEGJC said it made several efforts to have the required corrective work commence.

It said the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) had initially advised the ministry that it would be appropriate to obtain the services of a structural engineer to examine the integrity of the entire structure given that it is aged and has several related challenges.

According to the release, the ministry initiated a process to put the project to tender. However, no bid was submitted which met the required criteria.

“Security concerns regarding the location where the rehabilitative work is to take place resulted in a limited and inadequate expression of interest in the project. Therefore, the tender process was aborted,” the ministry stated.

MEGJC stated that given that over a protracted period, efforts to obtain the services of a structural engineer did not yield the desired result, the ministry engaged the services of Rural Water Supply Limited to undertake a structural report to inform the scope of works and embarked upon the process of utilising the restricted bidding procurement methodology to have the work carried out as soon as possible.

However, the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) did not support use of the restricted bidding procurement process. Consequently, the ministry moved to utilise the national competitive bidding process. The approval of the PPC was received November 18, 2024, and the ministry immediately engaged with the selected contractor and issued a ‘Commencement of Works’ letter. It is anticipated that the contractor will commence work starting November 19, 2024, the ministry stated.

“The ministry regrets injury reportedly caused to a senior citizen due to the collapse of a staircase at the housing scheme. However, the MEGJC was bound by law to await the decision of the PPC before causing work to commence,” the ministry said.

The release further stated that Golding, who over the past few years has had conversations with MEGJC personnel towards having the referenced corrective work carried out, “was repeatedly briefed on the challenges being experienced, including security concerns, which have delayed commencement of the work.

“The Member of Parliament had proposed that an individual be contracted to have the repair work executed. However, the individual was not assessed to meet the criteria required or to possess the technical expertise which are necessary for a contractor to be engaged to conduct the major repairs which are required,” the release stated.

It added that the Government is undertaking a general review of the procurement process with a view of increasing efficiency.

“The ministry rejects the allegation of tardiness and urges the Member of Parliament to ensure that his statements pertaining to the issue align with the facts and are not misleading,” the MEGJC said, adding that it is “committed to executing infrastructure upgrade work which falls under its remit in a lawful and timely manner and remains open to having dialogue with all its stakeholders.”

Further to this commitment, the ministry said it recently signed a contract valued at around $22.8 million to facilitate housing infrastructure remedial work in Wilton Gardens which falls in the Opposition leader’s constituency.
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2024-11-19
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Repair work begins at Torrington Park Housing; Gov’t rejects ‘misleading’ comments by Golding