Project assistance completion report : Grenada infrastructure revitalization II, project no. 538-0129

Under the project component to construct factory shells at Frequente Industrial Park, Construction Products International (CPI) of Houston, Texas, supplied prefabricated components for three buildings with a total floor space of 63,000 sq ft. The buildings were erected by J&J Engineering Co., a Miami-based 8a firm. Two were occupied immediately and operations began in them in 12/86. The third building provided reserve capacity and has since been occupied. The total cost of this component was $292,000,including $200,000 for the CPI contract. EBASCO Services provided engineering services for the project's power component, and International Power Systems (IPS) supplied and installed a 2.04 MW diesel generator at the Grenada Electric Company's (GRENLEC) plant in Queen's Park. As a result, load shedding has no longer been necessary. Although IPS also provided operations and maintenance training to GRENLEC staff, GRENLEC has had continuing operational problems with the unit, partially because of its own failure to carry out periodic maintenance. Given GRENLEC's history of maintenance problems, a service contract should have been considered. A total of $1.050 million was spent on this component. The Government of Grenada negotiated a $3.5 million cost plus fixed fee contract with Morrison Knudsen (MK) for the road resurfacing component. MK resurfaced or repaired 22 miles of road, including the St. George's-Grenville, Lance Aux Epine, and Morne Rouge roads, and selected streets in St. George's. MK also provided long-term TA to Grenada Rock, Asphalt and Concrete Products (GRACP) to ensure an adequate supply of material for construction activities. Some 20 GRACP employees were trained in quarry development and operations, crusher operations, and maintenance and quality control of asphaltic concrete mixtures. The TA provided by MK was intended to help the GOG establish a critically needed producer of cement and concrete for the construction industry. These efforts were hampered initially by the failure of GOG agencies to pay for the materials in a timely manner and later by the GOG's reluctance to retrench unneeded and unproductive workers. The end result has been the establishment of a statutory body with a virtual monopoly on the crushed aggregate business and which charges excessive prices, thus substantially escalating local construction costs. This aspect of the project should have been more thoroughly discussed during project design.