By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

CONCERNS have been raised about the status of the multi-million dollar roadwork contract for Cat Island, with a resident from that island claiming the project has been “abandoned.”

In a letter sent to The Tribune, Cat Island resident Carlton Zonicle called on Minister of Works and Cat Island MP Philip Davis to answer why the roadway appears to be “in worse shape than before the contract was awarded”.

The concerned resident added: “When will work resume to fix the problems that were never fixed, how long will that take and how many more dollars will that cost the Bahamas?”

In August 2013, Ezra Russell was awarded a contract to reconstruct 1.8 miles of roadway and 500 feet of the sea wall in central Cat Island. The contract had an initial price of $1.8 million, but rose to $2.4 million at last report. At the time, officials said the work should have been completed in 120 days.

When contacted for comment, Colin Higgs, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, said the government is in talks to further expand the scope of its sea wall and roadway project in Cat Island.

Mr Higgs confirmed that the initial contract – which was signed more than a year ago – was “substantially complete” and the government was in discussions for additional works with the contractor.

Last year project costs increased to $2.4 million due to underground technical issues; however, Mr Higgs said he could not confirm the total value of the contract up to press time.

He explained that site conditions “required some changes in the design”.

The contract was signed between the Ministry of Works and Marlon Enterprises on August 22, 2013 at the Media Centre in the settlement of Knowles in New Bight, Cat Island.

Yesterday, Marlin Enterprise President Ezra Russell told The Tribune that his company had completed 4,200 feet of sea wall construction and was waiting on the government to approve additional funding.

“I’m waiting on the ministry to get back to me,” he said. “So far what we’ve already done, we have finished the sea wall and we are extending the feet of sea wall, we’re just waiting on the government to get their finances in place. They are extending it because the length didn’t clear the whole area damaged by the hurricane.”

Mr Russell added: “(Regarding) the road, we’re waiting on getting funding too. It was not enough to cover the roads.”

Mr Russell has also proposed to build a multi-million dollar resort/residential development for the island, Fountain Bay Resort and Marina.

When asked about this, Mr Russell said he was close to securing funding for the project. The development was facilitated by a grant of 36 acres of Crown land, and forecast to inject $2.3 million in the economy of Cat Island annually. The resort will feature 114 rental units and a clubhouse in phase one, 37 residential homes in phase two, and 54 marina slips in phase three.

It was granted final approvals in 2012, at which time Mr Russell commended the PLP-led government for approving his project within the first 100 days of its new term.

Yesterday, Mr Russell said: “We are securing funding right now and we’re looking to start that project by July this year.”

“Everything is around funding, when the money was there I couldn’t get government to issue land approval. Now that the economy is like this, I have approvals so now trying to put funding in place is what’s dragging out.

“We have two potential investors looking at it right now,” he added.