Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake will introduce standards with respect to public infrastructure: wastewater facilities design; roadway facilities design; road drainage design; pavement strips and markings; and standard engineering details for wastewater.
The process of quality standards was initially started by former Minister of VROMI Theo Heyliger just before he left office, resulting in him not getting the opportunity to complete the process.
A company has been contracted to prepare several manuals on standards and criteria for the country’s public infrastructure to be implemented by the Ministry in 2014 with respect to new projects. Ministry VROMI will be meeting with representatives of the company next week.
A standard process and criteria has to be followed where accountability and transparency are at the forefront Minister Lake said. In the case of wastewater facilities, design criteria shall pertain to all gravity sanitary sewers, lift stations and force mains.
Concerning roadway facilities, uniform minimum standards and criteria for design and construction must be applied to all country roadways and related facilities. These standards are intended to provide basic guidance for developing and maintaining a roadway system with reasonable operating characteristics.
The Roadway Drainage Design Manual sets forth drainage design standards. The manual’s purpose is to protect the safety and general welfare of the people of the country and to preserve and improve all transportation and drainage facilities. Drainage is an essential component of roadway design and is required to minimize potential damage to roadways and adjacent properties during storms and flood events.
Pavement stripes and road markings design manual will state that for the purposes of design, all permanent pavement stripes and markings shall specify thermoplastic materials.
The Department of New Works will be enforcing the new standards as soon as possible in order to improve the quality of work within the Ministry.
"Road markings have been an issue where after the strips have been painted, in two weeks they are gone or faded out. Standards will be coming in this area. We need thicker road markings and that shine at night when illuminated.
"Round-a-bouts with big islands in the center is not needed; simple ones will do the job. We don’t have a big amount of land to splurge. We have to be practical and going back to basics and being realistic and using scarce resources wisely.
"Small drain pipes and the type of grills used are inadequate. Standards are needed for these. A small shower of rain clogs the drains and the type of grills needed are those that can withstand the weight of heavy vehicles and not the inferior type that caves in," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake pointed out on Friday.
Minister Lake would also like future public and private projects to take into consideration provisions for handicapped and wheelchair bound persons, making their properties accessible to them, adding: "Every infrastructure project and public parking areas from now on, I am going to make sure is handicapped accessible."
Adequate parking for various public and private sector projects also needs to take into consideration the size of cars that are driven on the island such as American models which are wider. Minister Lake said standards will be put in place with respect to this: "Why build parking lots only for small cars?"
For those who win a government tender for a public sector infrastructure project, Minister Lake would like to see noted in the contract that work is guaranteed for the small contractor and an amount of funds or a percentage figure for doing the job.
"The details in relation to the contract where work has to be guaranteed to small contractors and a sum or certain percentage have to be researched and worked out by the legal minds.
"Somewhere in there we have to guarantee work for the small man and woman who are in business and have families to feed. In the past the big companies that would win the public bids were asked to utilize small contractors, but this does not happen and for 2014, I would like to see things changed.
"Another change as well is quality control. You cannot have a contractor who gets a company to design a building or some type of project as an example, and then have the same design company come back to carry out quality control for Government on the same structure that they designed. This is a clear conflict of interest. Government has to also start enforcing contractual clauses where quality of work is concerned.
"Another point I would like to see addressed is the use of interns from abroad. Government expects quality work. Thousands and millions of guilders in tax payer money is paid out and the public and government expect quality work and not inferior. We can’t have interns engineering/designing consultant companies experimenting on major projects.
"I believe we have to better safeguard with public tenders, otherwise we get exactly what we pay for – marginal work for marginal pay. We need to set our standards higher and quality of work that we accept as Government.
"My approach is all about going back to basics. Guaranteed work for our small contractors who have families to feed and also employ others who also have families is essential for our socio-economic development of the country. This has to be in the contract otherwise I will not sign it.
"Quality control is essential for public projects and we need to make sure that there are standards in place in order for everybody to follow so the public is not duped in any way, fashion or form.
"Next week’s meeting with Miller Leg Consultant can help to start raising the quality of work standards," Minister of VROMI Hon. Maurice Lake said on Friday.
PHOTO CUTLINE: Minister Hon. Maurice Lake.