Cabinet has delayed review of the conservancy breach report so that key documents could be checked and the opposition PNC/R yesterday upped the pressure on government by calling for a forensic audit of the contracts with B&K international, the contractor at the centre of the probe.

Speaking yesterday with reporters at his weekly press briefing, which now clashes with the PNC REFORM's regular media conference, Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon said that Cabinet was yet to consider the report which Stabroek News understands was submitted to the Office of the President on March 12.

Dr Luncheon explained that the National Drainage and Irrigation Board (NDIB) had cited the need to review the voluminous technical documentation on which the investigating team based its conclusions and recommendations.

He said that the review is to establish whether the team's observations and findings from the documentation on the soil and other tests conducted were in accordance with what was contained in the formal report submitted to Cabinet.

This, he said, would "introduce some delay in the responses being sent from the Drainage and Irrigation Board, Ministry of Agriculture to the Office of the President".

Not until those reports have been submitted and examined would the government arrive at a conclusion that would be made public, the Cabinet Secretary added. He said that he could not at this time give a timeframe for this exercise.

The investigating team found numerous faults in the work of the contractor, the engineer and the NDIB. It determined that the decision to execute remedial works was undertaken with extreme haste and without sufficient analysis of the implications. While the raising of the dam had been expressly warned against, this was catered for in the project. The report of the investigators found that B&K's work diverged completely from that outlined in the method statement and various contract requirements were flaunted. Moreover, engineering review and superintendence was lax. In one of the key findings, the team determined that excavation had occurred closer to the dam than it should have and inappropriate materials were used in the work. Key survey drawings were also not made available to the probe team by B&K.

Dr Luncheon told reporters that while there is a paucity of engineering expertise in the Cabinet there was a surfeit of knowledge that it could call on to assist in its consideration of the report including the members of the investigating team.

The dam breach occurred in the vicinity of Cane Grove, East Coast Demerara while B&K was executing one of three rehabilitation contracts in the area. The rupture flooded the village causing millions of dollars in damage to household and personal effects and to crops and livestock. As a result, President Bharrat Jagdeo announced the appointment of the five-man team headed by Dr Harold Davis Jr, Guysuco's director of agricultural services, to investigate.

Over at Congress Place, the PNC/R drew attention to the findings of the report which it described as "a story of incompetence and irregularity which confirms our worst fears".

PNC/R Chairman Robert Corbin congratulated Stabroek News for its reportage on the findings of the investigative team. Several reports appeared before the government formally released the findings of the probe team.

Corbin said that based on the findings of the report several important questions arise.

Why was the government so anxious to have this work carried out even though many studies had advised against raising the dam?

Why was BK International given further large projects in the face of the questions raised about its work?

What legal or other recourse will the government apply to obtain compensation for the great pain, suffering, damage and losses inflicted on the residents and farmers of the Cane Grove area?

Corbin also recalled that B&K rejected any notion of culpability and alleged that sabotage was the cause of the dam failure.

"We call on the government to take swift and decisive action to put an end to the .. scandal and the evident plundering of state resources. In the interest of transparency and accountability for the expenditure of Guyanese taxpayers funds, we recommend a forensic audit of all the BK contracts by a reputable team of international experts", Corbin said.