Engineer said he did not cause delay in bridge repairs

Mon, Apr 12th 2010, 12:00 AM

The five-year delay to repair the eastern Paradise Island bridge need not have been made over concerns of conflict of interest, consulting engineer Paul Hanna claims.

Mr Hanna maintains he had no interest in bidding for the repair work after his firm Paul Hanna and Associates inspected both bridges in 2005 and advised the Ministry of Public Works and Transport that the 44-year-old eastern bridge was in urgent need of repair.

Although ministry officials and members of the Bridge Authority Board accepted the need for immediate repairs to the bridge in a public statement released this week, Board members were cautious to ensure there was no conflict of interest in seeking a contractor to repair the cracks, scouring and exposed metal on the bridge.

They were concerned that offering Mr Hanna first right of refusal on the contract for repairs could call into question the reliability of the report, and thus sought legal advice from the Attorney General's office, further delaying the repairs.

But Mr Hanna said his consulting engineering firm, which prepares designs and contract documents for tendering and construction by contractors, expressed no interest in carrying out the work and that he categorically stated how rehabilitation contracts were beyond the purview of the report.

"We never expressed any interest in carrying out the bridge construction repairs," Mr Hanna said.

"So they need to explain why legal advice was sought from the Attorney General's office about something that never happened.

Click here to read more in The Tribune

The five-year delay to repair the eastern Paradise Island bridge need not have been made over concerns of conflict of interest, consulting engineer Paul Hanna claims.

Mr Hanna maintains he had no interest in bidding for the repair work after his firm Paul Hanna and Associates inspected both bridges in 2005 and advised the Ministry of Public Works and Transport that the 44-year-old eastern bridge was in urgent need of repair.

Although ministry officials and members of the Bridge Authority Board accepted the need for immediate repairs to the bridge in a public statement released this week, Board members were cautious to ensure there was no conflict of interest in seeking a contractor to repair the cracks, scouring and exposed metal on the bridge.

They were concerned that offering Mr Hanna first right of refusal on the contract for repairs could call into question the reliability of the report, and thus sought legal advice from the Attorney General's office, further delaying the repairs.

But Mr Hanna said his consulting engineering firm, which prepares designs and contract documents for tendering and construction by contractors, expressed no interest in carrying out the work and that he categorically stated how rehabilitation contracts were beyond the purview of the report.

"We never expressed any interest in carrying out the bridge construction repairs," Mr Hanna said.

"So they need to explain why legal advice was sought from the Attorney General's office about something that never happened. Click here to read more in The Tribune

The five-year delay to repair the eastern Paradise Island bridge need not have been made over concerns of conflict of interest, consulting engineer Paul Hanna claims.

Mr Hanna maintains he had no interest in bidding for the repair work after his firm Paul Hanna and Associates inspected both bridges in 2005 and advised the Ministry of Public Works and Transport that the 44-year-old eastern bridge was in urgent need of repair.

Although ministry officials and members of the Bridge Authority Board accepted the need for immediate repairs to the bridge in a public statement released this week, Board members were cautious to ensure there was no conflict of interest in seeking a contractor to repair the cracks, scouring and exposed metal on the bridge.

They were concerned that offering Mr Hanna first right of refusal on the contract for repairs could call into question the reliability of the report, and thus sought legal advice from the Attorney General's office, further delaying the repairs.

But Mr Hanna said his consulting engineering firm, which prepares designs and contract documents for tendering and construction by contractors, expressed no interest in carrying out the work and that he categorically stated how rehabilitation contracts were beyond the purview of the report.

"We never expressed any interest in carrying out the bridge construction repairs," Mr Hanna said.

"So they need to explain why legal advice was sought from the Attorney General's office about something that never happened. Click here to read more in The Tribune

Mario  Mon, 2010/04/12 - 04:12 PM

it takes the Bridge Authority Board from 2005 till 2010 to think that they need to get the repairs done, eh!!!. They need to get a new inspection done as the problems are probably worse now. Stop messing about man, just fix before an accident happens.


DanH  Tue, 2010/04/13 - 04:47 AM

"Mr Hanna maintains he had no interest in bidding for the repair work after his firm Paul Hanna and Associates inspected both bridges in 2005 and advised the Ministry of Public Works and Transport that the 44-year-old eastern bridge was in urgent need of repair."Could it be the condition of the bridge was in such a terrible state that he didn't wanna burn his fingers on it??


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