Tuesday February 9th, 2010
- Last update:12 hours 28 min ago
Chinese contractor praises Calder Hart
Published: 5 Nov 2009
Calder Hart
SHANGHAI, CHINA-President of Overseas Business of the Shanghai Construction Group (SCG) Tong Ji Sheng is assuring that all the projects his company has been hired to do in Trinidad are safe for the next 100 years and more. He also said that should there be any problems or collapse of the buildings, he was prepared to serve a prison sentence in Trinidad. He said, however, that the buildings would need maintenance every five years so that there would be no problems. Tong spoke during an interview at his sprawling and lavish office in downtown Shanghai yesterday. He also praised executive chairman of the Urban Development Company of T&T (Udecott) Calder Hart for his “clear understanding of construction in Trinidad.” Tong said he would travel to Trinidad this weekend to personally inspect the Performing Arts Centre in Port-of-Spain. He said after his inspection of the centre, Prime Minister Patrick Manning would announce the date of the centre’s opening. Tong said he would remain in Trinidad for one week. Flanked by top company officials during the interview, Tong said his company would like to work alongside local contractors and architects to foster a better relationship between China and T&T. He said, too, that he had visited Trinidad several times and even met with Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Hart.
About Hart, he said: “I know Calder Hart. I meet him everytime I visit Trinidad. I think he has a good ability to execute construction. He knows how to use the best resources and low cost. For example, when I met him the first time, he did not have confidence in us (SCG), but his concept changed when he visited China and saw the many high-rise towers which Shanghai Construction Group built. Tong said from then on, Hart’s confidence in the Shanghai Construction Group increased. He said he was also confident that the general public in T&T would soon be confident in his company’s ability. “I can assure you that the projects in Trinidad are safe...They can last more than 100 years,” he said. Tong said his company also wanted to get involved in some “project financing” in Trinidad so that in this way his construction group would contribute to the economy in T&T. He said his company, which has built bridges, towers, roads and international buildings, planned to hire local architects and contractors for future projects in T&T. “We don’t know how to find Trinidad engineers, but as time passes, there will be Trinidad engineers involved in our work,” he said. “We have a long-term development plan in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.
Tong, who spoke through an interpreter, said the construction of the Performing Arts Centre in Port-of-Spain, which he said would be completed six months ahead of time and within cost, was “very complicated.” He said before the construction of the centre, his company did not know the standard of T&T’s contractors. “So we encountered some problems with the electricity power supply,” he said. He said the Chinese normally used a different power supply. “So when we brought our transformers to Trinidad, they did not work, so the power supply was a big problem for us,” he said. “This caused a severe setback. We had to rely on China to build another power supply to be comparable with the Trinidad electricity power supply. “We have now become the most significant construction company in Trinidad. With our low cost and quick speed, we are very competent in Trinidad,” he added. He also boasted about his company’s involvement in the construction of the Prime Minister’s official residence and Diplomatic Centre, which, he said, only took eight months. Tong said he had often seen poor-quality work in Trinidad, but in every country there were good and bad. He said he was concerned about the living conditions and wages of Chinese workers in Trinidad, hired by another Chinese contractor from Beijing.
"And Brutus is an honourable
"And Brutus is an honourable man..."
Jumbie's Watch
Honourable Hart... You is a
Honourable Hart... You is a velly good man... So I vill get more contracks if I make velly good statements about you honourable sir?
What else do we expect the Chinese contractors to say?
These subservient people knows who butters their spling rolls.
http://dsaltsman.blogspot.com/
And Shanghai CC, its
And Shanghai CC, its unethical to criticise your hosts technologies, Best keep quiet, China may not talk boldly about its technologies as their environment programme has cause a lot of problems. And we are scared to do business with them because they can steal your technology, so there!
You slap my back and I'll
You slap my back and I'll slap your back. You scratch my back and I'll scratch your back. That's Tong's message.
China is on the way to superpower status. It has been patiently moving towards this position and will in due course overtake the United States with assistance from the US and the rest of the West because of the Western world's greed for indecent profits and consumers' appetite for cheap goods.
China is gradually taking over the African continent in its quest for its insatiable demand for minerals and raw materials leaving behind waste and poverty with short-term benefits for corrupt officials who sell out their people's patrimony.
I appreciate these African countries face a dilemma. They need everyday resources for their sheer existence. The western world is quite short-sighted in abandoning Africa to China for its exploitation. They, and we the helpless will pay for this in the future. Notice China is the least of the major economies affected by the current global recession. They have the money to invest and control.
T&T is too small to make a difference so we better make sure we start learning Mandarin as our second language. In time to come it will replace English.
How are contracts awarded by
How are contracts awarded by the UDeCOTT ???
I was a member of the Urban Development Commission of Barbados from August 1999 until November 2002 and contracts are awarded in accordance with the Financial Administration and Audit Act , which states , among other things , that all contracts $100,000,000,.00 and over MUST go out to tender . Contracts under $100,000,000.00 contractors are invited to bid and not less than 3 contractors should be invited .
It appears to me that Mr.Hart can invite contractors and offer them contracts regardless of the cost . Tong seems to have a close "business" relationship with Prime Minister Manning and Calder Hart !!!
"Power corrupts , absolute power , corrupts ; absolutely" . Lord Acton . ATW-Barbados .
These Racist remarks.....
These Racist remarks..... from the previous blogger sicken me to the very core as a person and as a trini, the sad part is I'm not even sure he even thinks there is anything wrong with what he's said. So sad to see the state of ignorance.
...true, those type of
...true, those type of remarks really don't belong...
The performing arts centre
The performing arts centre finishing six months ahead of time and within cost? Something wrong here. All UDeCOTT contracts are way behind schedule and exceeds costs by tens and hundreds of millions each. And seriously, are we to expect Tong to say anything unsavoury towards Mr Hart?
And Bachanal, we got him: as
And Bachanal, we got him: as if the project was 6 months ahead but he got the same amount of money for an exra 6 months labour time? does that mean we paid him xtra? Does that mean Hart et al cannot plan properly or was the job half finished. I dont know, Maybe it could be a bogus job?
Another comment that is of
Another comment that is of concern is Mr. Tong's admission that (after being awarded the contract), when they brought their power supplies / generators to TnT they did not work.
One would have to then question the basis on which the contract was awarded. Did this firm undertake the appropriate research prior to a bid being submitted ? How can you submit a bid of this magnitude if you do not understanding the Engineering of the country, and if you are not working with local engineers ?
On that basis, and given that numerous contractors in China have been charged with the use of sub-standard materials, what assurance do taxpayers have that that situation would not be repeated here.
I sincerely hope that this contractor does not have 'personal' ties to Calder Hart...
It is also presumptious of Mr Tong to state that HE has a 'development plan for T&T' - hopefully something in the translation.
Maybe this man is another
Maybe this man is another one of Hart's in-laws and that's why he's singing his praises.
Yes, there's something
Yes, there's something 'fishy' here with this company and it's not coming from the Fish Market..
I would like to see the Incorporation papers of this Contractor. Can the Guardian help us out here ?
Racist remark??? Nothing to
Racist remark??? Nothing to do with racism, something I deplore. It's to do with realpolitik. History is replete with examples of imperial domination throughout civilisation.
How do you think that Arabic is such a widely spoken and written language in so many parts of the world? Romance languages (Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Romanian)?
If Hitler and Mussolini had succeeded in taking over the world, we might have been speaking German and Italian today.
If communism had replaced capitalism, the world would have been a totally different place today. We would have been under Castro's sphere of influence for better or for worse.
The realpolitik fact is that China is slowly and patiently moving towards world dominance, not by violent means. We have to face the reality and the sooner the better.
Is that really racist?
Prince there is nothing
Prince there is nothing racist in what you said, someone has a thin skin. ok do you think Shanghai cc owes us a discount if he finished 6mths ahead of time even starting off with wrong gennies, what if he had the correct gennies would he have fished off 9mths ahead of time, There is a mathematical concept here that can take us back in time, time zero which can show then that building never was built by Shanghai, it existed all the time. so hear nah, if we get a discount for labour overcharge then if we give that to Hunt maybe he can build a flag for the PMs new roti shop nx to his personal concert hall? good deal?
...I don't think that is the
...I don't think that is the issue, for me, it was the use of ESL mimicry that is offensive....
You not really with it or
You not really with it or what! The man don't go to no indian functions, he doh like roti!
Desmond, it seems that I
Desmond, it seems that I have been been mistaken in thinking my political commentary was being perceived as racist. But from Zando Lee's observation of "ESL mimicry", I gather that it might not have been my international political observation that was being construed as racist.
I know that I can be harsh and outlandish in my comments about our politicians and their crooked pals sometimes, and my remarks are often laced with hyperbole, picong/satire and irony for effect, but not me and that sort of thing.
If you want to see Trini racist remarks, just have a look at some of yesterday's comments about the Saudi diplomat's visit here to issue visas to T&T nationals wishing to go to Mecca.
Let's digress somewhat. The
Let's digress somewhat. The East Indian community has been targeted for decades by something similar to that "ESL minimcry " by certain calypsonians at Carnival time. The sad part about it is that a lot of our citizens think it is OK and sing along. You are correct Zando Lee and wolfhead.
I object very strongly to
I object very strongly to Epsomsalts making fun of the Chinese. This blogger has disappointed me. As a travelled person I find that Trinidadians are the most racial people on earth.
Why do you not make fun of certain politicians who cannot even pronounce english words correctly ? . In fact some of them speak like they now come out from the barracks.
Your ignorance defies logic. If you have something sensible and constructive to debate go ahead but please do not degrade people for their race or culture.
Keep on insulting the Chinese for being who they are (humans) and they like cork will keep floating higher and higher.