Cabinet has given its no-objection to some $2.9 billion in contracts, the majority of which is for the rehabilitation of community roads and State Minister Joseph Harmon has urged that labour within those communities be utilised for the work.
During a post-Cabinet press conference on Friday, Harmon told reporters that a contract worth $174.3 million for the supply and delivery of equipment for the use of the Force Account Unit of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure was among those that received no-objection. The unit, he noted, is responsible for the road building that is not contracted to private contractors.
Cabinet, he said, looked at the contracts for rehabilitation and the construction of roads, including a $66.839 million contract for rehabilitation of the Water Street/Tiger Bay road network; a $32.8 million contract for the West Ruimveldt road network; and a $194.8 million contract for the Dennis Street Highway to ‘D’ Field, Sophia, and which is one of eight contracts for roads, bridges and street lights in the central Sophia area. The other contracts in Sophia are valued at approximately $376 million.
For Region Three, Cabinet gave its no-objection to a contract valued $193.4 million for the upgrading of access roads and bridges at Parika.
Cabinet also did not object to contracts for river defence works in regions Two and Three; the creation of a diversion channel and timber revetment along the Meadow Bank outfall; and the driving of cluster piles for the Demerara Harbour Bridge.
Harmon said he hoped that all of the road works would commence by year end.
When asked if there is a link between the awards of the contracts and the provision of jobs, Harmon said that “this is the expectation of Cabinet, that the injection of these funds into these projects will create employment.”
He said government has asked the contractors to ensure that “there is a certain amount of local labour employed from those communities” in which the works would be done. “This again is what I am asking for… for the Guyanese citizens who are out there in whose communities these works are being done, that you insist and ensure that this is done because all of this is part of giving the economy an injection of cash,” he said.
Harmon told reporters that this injection will ensure that the people, including the contractors “are put to work” and that “the people out there who require work they get that work. So this is why we have injected now into the economy an additional $2.9 billion for these contracts.”
Harmon said too that for the impending local government elections, which are expected to be run off on March 18, next year, Cabinet has given its no objection for a contract in the sum of $92.8 million to Troy Tech Video Productions and another for $10.4 million to GuyEnterprise.
Meanwhile, Harmon noted that Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson has ensured that the quality of work done on the roads is inspected.
However, Harmon also encouraged residents to be “watchdogs” over the work being done by contractors. “It makes no sense a contractor getting a contract, he is being paid the money and the work is not being done to the specification and then the community complains afterwards. We encourage the communities to be involved in this. Hold the contractors to a standard,” he said.
He noted too that the contracts for the construction of roads in some communities would now include the installation of lights. Harmon said that the contracts all have their own particular features but government has insisted that for certain communities the installation of street lights become a part of that. “I can’t say if that is a general rule across all of these contracts because some of the contracts…the funds come from international agencies and the agencies would stipulate what it is that they want in the contract itself,” he said.
Harmon said that as a general rule, government would like to see communities with proper roads, water and lighting facilities. “So that the whole aspect of physical security in those communities are catered for; so that while it might not be a part of every single contract that the government does, I believe that it is the government’s intention to ensure that every community receives that facility. It is part of the good life that we talk about,” he said.
