CHAIRMAN of Gorstew Limited, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, yesterday blamed the lack of a proper monitoring system at the controversial Sandals Whitehouse Hotel project, as a primary reason for the massive cost overrun of approximately US$43 million at the site.

“It is inconceivable that any professional and able project manager would run a project site without a comprehensive and transparent tracker system,” Stewart told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, which is probing the cost overruns.

He was answering questions from Opposition spokesman and former PAC chairman, Audley Shaw.

He said that a tracking system was necessary so that “all the parties on the project would know what is ordered, who ordered it, when it’s coming, who is going to install it, the cost and all the various areas that make up the efficiency, the cost, etcetera, on a building site”.

“If you are going to build an outhouse you would have a proper, relative tracker system for it,” he pointed out.

“We found it inconceivable that, right up to the end, trailers were arriving and nobody had a clue what was in it. If this was a private organisation bringing trailers through the docks without a proper tracking system, we would probably have been jailed,” he said.

“Some of the behaviour on that site, and the lack of professionalism, it is no wonder (that there were massive cost overruns),” he added. “We tried, time and time again, to have a proper tracking system that our own project manager even designed to help, in the far-fetched conclusion that, maybe, they didn’t know how. But, the absence of the tracking system, I think, contributed greatly.

“Now, as to why the tracking system was not there: it eliminates all the transparency, it eliminates co-ordination on the site and it eliminates the briefing and knowledge that any decent construction site needs to have.”

Asked by Shaw, if he felt that lack of the monitoring of the operations opened the way for fraud, Stewart responded: “If you don’t have accountability, if you don’t have proper direction and communication, then anything can happen on a site like that.”

“And could very well have led to the US$43-million cost overrun?” Shaw asked. “Well, in an absence of proper management, it could have been a lot more,” Stewart told him.

Shaw also asked Gorstew director, Patrick Lynch, what was his opinion on the reason the UDC had withheld information from the company.

“Information we required in terms of knowing where we were from a financial perspective was never forthcoming. Why was this information withheld from us and the government partners. because they also were kept in the dark, their own banker didn’t know where they were financially.

As to why they would seek to do that and create that confusion I don’t know. As far as the tracking of the day-to-day project and so forth, that is for Mr Brown to answer, but why they would withhold financial information as to where they were with the project is an amazement.”

Pressing the point, Shaw asked whether there was a deliberate attempt at concealment of information by the UDC and its main project manager Nevalco.

“Could you see a connection between that concealment and your own deduction that value for money was not achieved on the project?” To that, Stewart responded that it was inconceivable that any professional and able project manager could run a project site without a comprehensive and transparent tracking system.