RDC accused of shoddy work

ORLAINE COTTLE, of Vault Road, Welchman Hall, St Thomas, is accusing the Rural Development Commission (RDC) of doing a bad job on her home.Bad tiling, bad carpentry and flooring and bad wiring are her chief concerns.Cottle told the SATURDAY SUN she had been asking for help from the RDC since 2000 and had to start the work herself. She said that after the current administration took over Government, the RDC sent a contractor seven months ago, but he did a bad job on the inside and “only painted the outside to look pretty”.“I was told they had to prop the floor but they never did. They were supposed to bring in [ceramic] tiles but they brought this instead [vinyl tiles] and it is peeling off now,” Cottle claimed in her complaint. However, Wendy Burke, public relations officer for the RDC, said they investigated Cottle’s allegations on Thursday and found some of what she was saying to be incorrect.“The RDC does not tile bathroom floors, and with respect to her claim that the electrical wires were exposed, the housing officer explained to her that the state of the meter was to facilitate her having continued use of her electricity while the house was undergoing repairs. “The Barbados Light & Power, and not the commission, is responsible for the removal of the old meter base,” Burke said.Cottle said the floorboards were splintering. In response, Burke said Cottle was given a new floor “which she informed us she was taking up”. Burke said Cottle told them she still did not like what was done.Burke added: “She offered some advice about how we should monitor contractors to ensure that the work being paid for is of high quality and done in a timely and cost effective manner. We thank her for that advice and the commission will continue, as it did in the past, to dispatch its technical officers into the field to scrutinise the scope of works being done on behalf of the clients.” (CA)