Garia blasted for remark on road work

CHIMBU Governor Fr John Garia has come under attack from a contractor on the Karimui-Gumine road for claiming work was not progressing.
Oasis Enterprise managing director Mark Zerike refuted Garia’s claim in Parliament that work was progressing on phase two from Karimui station towards Gumine district despite the contractors being paid.
 “Judging from reports in print media as well as on radio and television broadcast nation-wide, Garia seems to be of the belief that work on this important road link is not progressing well,” Zerike said.
“I cannot speak for the other company that is working on Stage I of the project, however, as managing director of Oasis Enterprises Ltd, I can assure my good governor that all work carried out so far by Oasis have been inspected by the Department of Works, as the supervising agent, and any payments made so far have only been made on its proper certification,” he said.
Zerike said Garia failed to appreciate that the Gumine-Karimui road project was a contract for the construction of a pilot track to access the remote areas of Karimui and parts of Gumine.
He said a project of such a nature and magnitude required extensive capital whereas only a meagre K10 million had been made available to Oasis to start the project.
He said Garia failed to appreciate that Oasis Enterprises had mobilised to the site at its own expense and had completed 70% of works as per the scoping for Stage II before claiming any money for its contract.