The collapse of a portion of the Brizan/Perseverance main road due to intensive blasting of stones in the area in the weekend of the 15th November has severely disrupted the lives of the residence of the Western and Northern parishes. This work presently under taken, is funded by the Caribbean Development Bank in the Disaster Mitigation and Restoration Rock fall and Landslip Project, which was initiated by the former New National Party (NNP) Government. The Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), a company with international experience has been working on similar and much more difficult projects throughout the country. Unfortunately, about six weeks ago, the Minister of Works Honorable Joseph Gilbert terminated their contract despite the Prime Minister, Honorable Tillman Thomas writing to the company indicating otherwise. He wrote “My Government notes that your contract within the above mentioned project officially comes to an end at the end of October 2009. We are also cognizant of the fact that we are obliged to signal our intention to continue with the second section of the contract on or before August 31st, 2009. At this point, we can state unequivocally that it is our intention to have the second component of the contract completed, and, in furtherance of this objective, we are willing to continue working with your company to have the project successfully concluded.” What is very strange, Honorable Gilbert, prior to terminating the CCC contract, went on national media and informed the nation that there was not a second phase to the contract. However after he was informed by CCC that there was a second phase, he further embarrassed himself by accusing the company of doing substandard work. For this, he was taken to task by Senator Chester Humphrey a staunch supporter of the Government and bargaining agent for the workers. Senator Humphrey claims that the Minister Honorable Joseph Gilbert was confusing him commenting that when one looks at the roads at Morne Jaloux, the Sea Defenses along the West coast the minister is wrong. CCC has been doing excellent work. Well, rather comically, Honorable Joseph Gilbert flip flop again, this time he agreed with Senator Humphrey and the people who have been putting in their bits on the various talk shows, that CCC was indeed doing excellent work, but they were working with a corrupt administration. Could any one believe the minister of works? This blatant disrespect for truth and honesty has become a hallmark in Grenada today. What was even worse, Honorable Gilbert seems not to be bothered about the economic hardship the country is faced with at this time. He proceeded with his decision to fire CCC when he knows, over 400 workers will be sent home, and $30,000,000.00 of investment into the economy will be lost in this tough economic time. So what are the issues here, incompetence, lack of proper supervision, and lack of genuine concern for the people. Mr. Minister, by not awarding the contract for the project to the second highest bidder, a world renowned construction company as Consolidated Contractors who has proven itself locally and internationally and whose bid was only EC$100.000 higher, and giving it to a company with little experience in road building, these types of slip ups are expected to happen. However, this accident could have been avoided; according to former Minister of Works Gregory Bowen. He said, the Minister of Works and the Government must take responsibility for this problem. Had the Minister followed the studies done by the Caribbean Development Bank and embrace the alternative to cut a road behind the rocks, we would not be in this predicament today. I was amazed to hear a consultant to the ministry of works for 14 years, at a press conference saying; he is not aware of any report being done, but he knows an alternative route was looked at but it was going to pass through the bird sanctuary and also it was going to cost twice as much as blasting the stones. From his own utterances, he is saying a study was done. But also, it is unheard of that a bank will finance a project of such magnitude and don’t do a feasibility study. But the big question is who made the decision to go for the cheaper solution and the cheapest bid? Can the Minister of Works be trusted with the state resources to get value for money? Who will pay for the increased cost to correct this problem? Many persons are hurting very badly, as a result of this problem, Schools have been closed, phone lines have been down and most critically, a large water main has been broken cutting off the flow of water from that area right down to St George’s. The National Water and Sewage Authority has been trucking water to the area at an extra cost to the authority, filling up tanks at strategic points along the road so as to facilitate the residents receiving this vital resource. We have to thank God; St George’s has another supply line. Could you imagine the General Hospital without water? There is a mad rush to reopen the road. The Government has been pressured to get it open now. It is the winter cruise season, and many tours have been sold for the Concord Water Falls, and other historic areas on the west coast. Also the Gouyave Fish Friday and the St Marks Sunset City Food Festival have been struggling as a result. However, I will like to advise the Government to ensure that safety is not compromised as a result of the urgency. And neither lies nor deception could save us from international criticism should one mishap occur. The minister of Finance pronouncement that the rock fall is an act of God is dishonest and will not in anyway protect us. The minister of Works is responsible for the ministry. At first the timeframe given for reopening the western main road was one week. This was later stretched to two to three weeks; then later by Wednesday 02nd December, but this date has since been changed to Thursday 10th December 2009. None of these deadlines has been met. The retention of prevailing bus fares announced by the Minister did not materialize; nor were mechanisms put in place to assist the bus operators in maintaining the fares, leaving affected commuters in particular students to pay significantly higher transportation costs. When untruth and deception is fed to the public, when incompetence and lack of proper supervision disrupt the economic life of the country in the way this has, the minister must resign. What confidence can anyone have in information coming from the ministry of works from now on? Prime Minister Tillman Thomas has to look closely at his minister and ask, is Minister Gilbert capable/competent to put things right? Would a new pair of hands, not embroiled by this situation be able to take charge and make a fresh start? Mr. Prime Minister, you are accountable too, to parliament and the peaceful loving people of our country. Sir, we are looking closely at you as to how you will handle this one. Pastor Winston Garraway. (The views and opinions expressed in the above article are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Inside Grenada staff).