Restriction of contracts to nationals of loan country flouts law –Harmon

The restriction of bidding only to nationals of the country providing the loan for projects here is as a result of poor negotiations by government and is in direct conflict with the laws of Guyana, APNU executive Joseph Harmon says.

“Nothing can supersede the country’s laws and constitution…so to say that you are taking a loan from a country and only using nationals or companies of that country has everything to do with your poor negotiations and nothing about our law,” Harmon told Stabroek News yesterday.

His comments come in the wake of the recent revelation that bidding for the East Coast Demerara (ECD) Road Expansion Project was restricted to only Chinese companies as the loan for that project came from China. Government has indicated that the bidding procedures were restricted to Chinese companies because financing was expected from China Exim Bank.

An official from the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board had explained to Stabroek News