Currency

“The problem with Scotland,… is that there’s too many Scots.”
- Edward Longshanks, Braveheart

“The problem with this project,… is that it is totally fubar.”
- Alan Palmer, NCHiP

It has not always been so, but recently things have taken a bit of a left turn. A turn south, if you like that analogy, or the wrong turn at Albuquerque, if you are more partial to wascally wabbits.

This does not look at all like Pismo Beach.

There ain’t been much of any beach lately, as there has been little time available for extended and sandy shores, the project taking most of my time. When we have beached, our fellow beachers have a new configuration than what we were seeing prior to September. There are few tourists on the road or in Negril and fewer in Montego Bay. Fewer people have taken their carefree vacations recently, and this has had a telling effect on the national economy, and the local psyche.

The Jamaican economy has never performed any better than tenuous since Independence. In recent years, it has become more and more reliant upon tourism to pay the bills. Any reduction in tourism affects the airlines and their workers, the hotels with their staffs and suppliers, the bus and taxi outfits, and the vast trinket sector. Unlike the States, there is no great cash reserve (or the ability to print such a reserve) with which to bail out these sectors, although these sectors do not fail to ask. More often, the Jamaican response is to try to muddle through.

Muddling was the government response when The Contractor bailed on the highway, and it was the same government response that this project received when faced with unrealistic completion expectations. Not surprising is the fact that there are still lands to be acquired and utilities to be relocated. “What can we do?” is a common question.

One of the contractors recently ran out of credit with his local fuel supplier and had to cease his operations. “What can we do?”

Another contractor has finally admitted that his bid was in error and is now claiming that he was some sixty percent low on the supply price of a key roadway component. He has severely curtailed his operations. “What can we do?”

The bridge contractor feels that he must fill the channel of a flood prone river during the rainy season so that he can hoist his girders. Citing the maintenance of hydraulic efficiency and environmental portions of his Contract, he is refused permission. “What can we do?”

You can always muddle.


In my experience, a contractor who runs out of credit, has no clue with regards to estimation, or is not intricately familiar with his contract usually will not return to play ball the next season. Unless, of course, there is some other factor involved - like an unwritten rule book. Apparently, we have not been playing by these unwritten rules and have, as one contractor told us in confidence, “spoiled the party”.

All along our project alignment, we run into water mains. We run into them because they are installed in shallow trenches, with minimal cover, using the worst material around for backfill, placed with no compaction. The result is mains that leak, that burst, that destroy the surrounding pavement, and that cannot be considered a consistent supply for the users who rely upon this service. Certainly, the National Water Commission specification calls for a minimum depth of cover, and must specify the quality and density of backfill. What right minded water commissioner would let it be otherwise?

As I drive around potholes throughout this island, I cannot help but notice (‘cuz I’m a geek, remember) that the pavement surrounding the hole is rarely much thicker than a couple of centimeters. Now, who in their right mind would place two centimeters of asphalt on a road which carries five to ten thousand vehicles per day?

The answer, quite obviously, is the contractor, who traditionally charges the government for ten centimeters. To seal the deal, the contractor may do a small favor or two for the resident engineer and his staff, like take them out to lunch, or give them a nice bottle of rum or an envelop full of cash. Every so often, our staff reports such attempted tipping practices, and thankfully reports that the tip was refused. To both the project and our benefit is the Company’s high level of competence, consistency and commitment to the project, and the fact that we already pay better than anybody else.

Our second government project director, who had little history with us or the Works, hand picked the contractors to fill in for The Contractor. The cream of the crop,... would go into their pockets if all went as usual. And this is exactly why the Japanese dudes providing the initial funding for this job required that a foreign firm be the quality control agents for the work. They knew what I am only beginning to grasp.

What I still fail to understand is the reasoning behind the massive levels of corruption. Easy money, I suppose.

One might argue that, if the work performed this year is a piece of crap, you can come back next year and get paid to fix it. However, would not the country be better served if you did the work right this year, then the budgeted repair moneys could be used for new infrastructure next year? If this went on for a few decades, there would be a reliable network of roads, paralleled with adequate power and water, ready to facilitate economic growth.
Blame it on the invisible evil hand.

And this evil hand needs someone to slap silly. The project is out of money due to some huge government sponsored changes, the contractors hands have been kept from the till (at least as best as we can manage), and there will be an election soon. Somebody gotta be slapped. “What can we do?”

Hey! Why not slap the consultant? They are an outside outfit. They are foreign in many ways. They are not members of the “boys’ club”. They are still owed plenty of wampum. And best of all, it beats resting the blame for this fiasco on the government.

So, I am writing this particular thousand word treatise amidst my efforts to write a twelve to fifteen to twenty thousand word position paper for our corporate attorney, preliminarily entitled, “A History of Project Construction Costs for the North Coast Highway, Segment One” or “If We’re Fucked Up, You’re to Blame” (current apologies to Blink 182).

It gonna be a long couple of nights.

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