Absolutely no documents or drawings detailing the drainage and sewer systems for the Las Alturas housing project were ever presented to Trintoplan engineer Andrea Claire Abel for review by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC). Abel made the comment yesterday as she continued her evidence in chief during the Commission of Enquiry at the Caribbean Court of Justice, Port-of-Spain.
Saying that Trintoplan Consultants Ltd was contracted by the HDC in July 2012 to conduct a structural condition assessment report for buildings H and I of the project at Lady Young Gardens, Morvant, Abel said she was also unaware if a completion certificate had ever been issued in relation to the project. Buildings H and I began to fall apart after construction, leading to their eventual demolition in 2012.
Concluding her evidence yesterday, Abel, who was led by attorney for the commission Jagdeo Singh, agreed that there were glaring omissions regarding critical aspects of the buildings’ infrastructure, such as where the waste-water and sewerage would be channeled. Quoting from the 2012 report, Abel said despite requests to the HDC for the relevant information they “never got any answer.”
Singh, who is appearing alongside Pamela Elder, SC—both of whom are instructed by Alvin Pariagsingh—questioned Abel about the observations in July 2012, in comparison to an assessment which was conducted in June 2011. Abel said the Trintoplan team had been prevented from inspecting buildings H and I in 2012 due to safety concerns, and as such they were limited to areas deemed safe by HDC officials.
She said there appeared to be no significant damage to buildings A and B in 2012, but an inspection of H and I revealed significant deterioration to both apartment buildings. That damage included severe cracking, exposed foundations, window frames buckling, broken walls, exposed brickwork, an absence of mortar within the concrete walls and columns separating from the walls. Pressed by Singh to say what the extent of damage indicated, Abel said there was a possibility that proper construction methods and procedures had not been followed.
Asked who would have been responsible for bringing this to the attention of the HDC, Abel said it could have been the contractor. Pressed by commission chairman Mustapha Ibrahim on if this was the responsibility of the project manager, CE Management and Services Ltd (CEMAS), Abel said it was possible. Questioned about a number of photographs depicting the damage observed at building H, which also included a loss of ground beneath the structure, Abel agreed with Singh’s statement that “it was left hanging in the air” and had been disconnected from the earth.
Referring to the $8 million retaining wall that had been built in the south carpark, Abel said they observed a crack approximately eight inches wide. Under cross examination by HDC lead attorney Vincent Nelson, QC, Abel said they were provided with certain documents by HDC project engineer Allan Cunningham, even as they were warned not to contact the project manager or anyone else associated with the construction. The enquiry will resume at 9.30 am today.
at a glance
The commission of enquiry was set up to investigate “the entire process which led to the construction of the Las Alturas Towers at Lady Young Gardens, Morvant, and all other acts, matters or decisions done or undertaken incidental to and including the construction” of the project, which includes the procurement process. Two multi-storey units of the Las Alturas housing project began falling apart after construction and the $26 million towers were earmarked for demolition.
They were part of a larger project, which was originally budgeted at $65 million and then rose to $90 million. The commission is chaired by former Justice of Appeal Mustapha Ibrahim. The other members include civil engineers, Dr Myron Wing-Sang Chin and Anthony Farrell. Attorney Laraine Lutchmedial is the secretary. They were appointed by President Anthony Carmona last December. Last September, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar recommended an enquiry into the project after raising concerns about the two towers which had to be demolished.
Persad-Bissessar said Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, who was a former housing minister under the PNM, as well as Emily Gaynor Dick-Forde, who succeeded him, have distanced themselves from blame. Rowley said though he welcomed the probe, it would be another waste of taxpayers’ dollars.
trintoplan hired
The HDC commissioned various studies of the buildings, including a condition assessment undertaken by Trintoplan Consultants Limited in June and July 2011. The findings of Trintoplan’s initial assessment were presented in a report dated July, 2011. Based on the previous studies, it is believed that the cause of distress in the buildings was a slope failure which extended below the building foundations in both these buildings.
In the case of Building H, the slope failure extended under the eastern half of the building. For Building I, the slope failure extended under the western third of the building. Due to the ground movement associated with the slope failure, settlement and lateral displacement occurred in the foundations for the structures.