Senior Reporter
shaliza.hassanali@guardian.co.tt
The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) spent $86,000 to construct a pagoda, meant for Little Tobago.
But the contractor, Mackrill and Associates Ltd, didn’t build it there.
Instead, they built it three miles away at the Speyside jetty, with the full approval of the THA.
Former chief secretary Ancil Dennis said that such a move was disturbing and warrants an immediate investigation by the Integrity Commission.
The Trinidad-based contractor was awarded a $449,200 contract, inclusive of the pagoda, by the THA on March 31, 2022.
The contract covered the cost of all labour, materials, equipment, tools, machinery, transportation and services upon the satisfactory completion of the works.
Work on the project was executed on April 7, 2022, with a delivery time of 58 days (June 3).
The contractor stated that the pagoda would provide shade and shelter, “as well as to add an aesthetically pleasing experience on the ingress and egress to the island.”
Based on drawings submitted with the proposal, the pagoda was supposed to have been built at the end of the refurbished jetty in 13 days, as the company promised to assist the THA in its tourism drive by delivering world-class marine amenities to characterise the Tobago experience.
However, the pagoda was never constructed at its intended location and was instead constructed at the Speyside Jetty, almost three miles away.
Documents obtained by Guardian Media showed that the contractor wrote THA Secretary of Infrastructure, Quarries and Urban Development Trevor James on February 7, 2022, regarding the “Little Tobago Jetty Refurbishment Proposal.”
In the opening paragraph of Mackrill’s proposal letter, the contractor acknowledged meeting James at his office six days before.
“As per meeting at your office on February 1, 2022, Mackrill and Associates Ltd’s proposal for the landing jetty on Little Tobago is as follows,” the letter stated.
The letter detailed the value of three areas of work for the project—the reconstruction of a green heart substructure, decking and fendering for “free span” between abutment and pile caps costing $208,400, marine grade aluminium, safety handrails, bollards and light poles priced at $154,800 and the construction of a “welcoming pagoda” on the abutment amounting to $86,000.
On June 22, 2022, a press release issued by the Division of Infrastructure, Quarries and Urban Development stated that Mackrill and Associates Ltd was working assiduously to hand over the project by the end of July, a delay of the project by almost two months.
The release stated that a new pagoda would complement the space, but the work would not be complete without the rehabilitation of the Speyside Jetty which was next in line.
Mackrill and Associates Ltd is one of several Trinidad contractors to have benefited from the THA led by Chief Secretary Farley Augustine since he assumed office in December 2021.
Speaking at a public meeting last year, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley expressed concern over contracts issued by the THA, saying Trinidad-based contractors from south and central received preferential treatment.
In a telephone interview with the Guardian media on July 14, Mark Ackrill of Mackrill and Associates Ltd, admitted that the pagoda was built in Speyside and not at Little Tobago Jetty.
That decision, he said, was based on recommendations he had put forward to the THA.
“So, I recommended to the THA that we move the pagoda to the Speyside Jetty. And that was approved ...that is how it was moved,” Ackrill said.
“I presented a proposal to the THA on how I think it would have been better done and it was accepted. I was requested to send them (THA) a letter telling them a reason for suggesting the relocation and it was approved and I did such.”
Ackrill said the location had to be shifted because there was a cluster of rocks at the Little Tobago Jetty which would have caused the pagoda to be continuously wet, slippery and attracted mussels.
Removing the rocks, he said, would have also disturbed the seabed.
He said there was also a covered area for tourists and visitors to use at Little Tobago Jetty while Speyside had none.
With these factors in mind, Ackrill said, he decided to erect the pagoda in Speyside.
The cost went beyond the $86,000 budget and he paid the difference from his pocket, said Ackrill.
He said: “I did not increase the price because I knew it would have caused a lot of confusion.”
Ackrill, who was paid in full for the contract, said the pagoda should be used as a landmark in Tobago because only local tradesmen and materials were utilised.
“It is fit for purpose,” he said.
Asked if the THA had amended or changed his contract to shift the pagoda’s location, Ackrill replied “nothing had to be amended other than I had to send a reason to the THA.”
Pressed if it was normal practice to visit James’ office before submitting his proposal, Ackrill said, “It is not common. Let me put it that way. But I delivered a proposal with a schematic of what I intended to do. That is what I did.”
Ackrill said the company hadbeen registered with the THA as a contractor before the contract was awarded but “only recently” began providing work for the assembly.
This contract, he said, was the first the company had landed under Augustine’s administration.
Describing himself as “honest and straightforward”, Ackrill insisted the contract was done above board.
“Ma’am I am very proud of what we did there. You know I didn’t make a lot of money out of it. It was never the intention to make a lot of money or cause any trouble,” he said.
He blamed “bad weather” for the delays in the contract.
Former chief secretary and PNM’s Tobago Council political leader Ancil Dennis said building the pagoda in a new location should have been treated by the THA as a new or separate project.
“It is not a situation of the contractor just writing a letter to the THA to change the location of the pagoda.
Let us put it this way, if a contractor gets a contract to build a road in Scarborough, he cannot construct the road in Pigeon Point.”
He said there are guidelines and rules in the contract that must be followed.
Dennis said building at a new location could also change the contract’s scope of work.
“The contract’s record would show the location as Little Tobago Jetty when the work was delivered at another site. That is cause for concern.”
In the interest of accountability and transparency, Dennis said the contractor should not have written the THA recommending that the pagoda be built elsewhere.
“Who authorised the pagoda to be built in Speyside? These are questions that must be answered.”
He said many of the contracts awarded by this THA regime were via “sole select” and not through tendering.
Dennis said procurement is never handled by politicians.
“When we checked at the time the project was awarded that contractor was not on the registered contractors’ list with the THA. The fact that this contractor met with the secretary (James) and then wrote the secretary, submitting a proposal, then that to me, it not only suspicious but is also illegal.”
He said they intend to report this contract and other issues to the Integrity Commission for an investigation.
“This is definitely disturbing.”
Guardian Media sent a list of questions to Augustine via WhatsApp on July 6 about the contract but he did not respond.
On July 14, a call was made to James who said he was not at the office and needed to get details of the contract, asking that we call him back in 90 minutes.
Subsequently, James failed to answer his phone following two calls that day.
A WhatsApp message was sent to Jameson which he read but did not reply to.
After two calls on July 14, James answered his phone saying he could not speak at the moment as his “voice is gone.”
Pressed if he would respond in writing, James said “I will attempt to. So, another time.”
Box
How the contractor was paid:
*A payment of 20 per cent of the contract sum for enabling work and mobilisation- $89,840.
*A payment of 50 per cent of the contract sum upon 70 per cent completion of the project -$224,600
*A payment of 20 per cent of the contract sum upon 100 completion of the project -$89,840
*A retention fee of ten per cent of the contract shall be held for a period of three months- $44,920.
James: My voice is gone
Guardian Media sent a list of questions to Augustine via WhatsApp on July 6 about the contract but he did not respond.
On July 14, a call was made to James who said he was not at the office and needed to get details of the contract, asking that we call him back in 90 minutes.
Subsequently, James failed to answer his phone following two calls that day.
A WhatsApp message was sent to Jameson which he read but did not reply to.
After two calls on July 14, James answered his phone saying he could not speak at the moment as his “voice is gone.”
Pressed if he would respond in writing, James said “I will attempt to. So, another time.”