Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice) on Thursday complained that only a small percentage of state contracts are going to its contractors.
A release from the Region follows:
Over the years the Regional Democratic Council of Region 10 has made it clear that the preferred methodology is that the people of Region 10 participate in the provision of goods and services that contribute to the development of this Region. This would mean that attention should be given to the award of contracts to residents of the Region in which these development projects are being executed, especially in the communities along our rivers and in Amerindian villages.
On his first visit and interaction with the RDC here, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharmlall had endorsed this position, stating that he was sure that residents of the Region possess the skills to execute these projects and that contract applications by residents of the Region should carry greater weight than those from outside of the Region. Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton is also on record during his visit to Linden stating that even if residents, and especially women and youths, do not have the skills necessary to carry out these projects, then he would advocate for the training of these persons before the award of the contracts to ensure that persons from Region 10 get these contracts.
These positions all agree with the call of the RDC of Region 10 for residents of our Region to actively participate in the execution of these development projects by way of being awarded these contracts. The Regional Tender Board is made up of persons all appointed by the current government and one would have thought that if they really had the interest of the people of Region 10 at heart, then it would have been an easy task to have these projects awarded in accordance with their public utterances. However it is apparent that these utterances are just for show and political grandstanding, because when these projects are awarded by the very Tender Boards that the government exacts control over, we see that over 70% of these contracts are awarded to persons resident outside of Region 10.
Make no mistake, these are not unduly technical contracts. Our residents are equally capable of constructing drains, building schools and health posts, constructing security huts and building revetments. Indeed, because our contractors reside in these communities, and their employees live where the work is being undertaken, they cannot afford to deliver shoddy and substandard work. Other persons coming into these communities and leaving with the income they make are insulated by distance from the work they put out, and are not as intimately familiar with the tides of the rivers and its effect on the revetments and wharves to be built, the soil composition, swampy history and drainage patterns of some of our areas and the effect (or lack thereof) of the drains they build.
The Regional Democratic Council of Region 10 will continue to also press forward with our demand to decide on our representatives on the Regional Tender Board. The law is clear and it states that apart from the appointments made at the national level, the other appointments are made by the REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION. The Regional Administration works FOR and ON BEHALF OF the elected Chairman and Councilors of the Regional Democratic Council in question, and acts on the lawful instructions of the Council. The RDC Region 10 is therefore adamant that our Regional Administration is not a law unto themselves nor are they controlled and directed by the Ministry of Local Government if the tenets of the laws governing the establishment of the Regional Councils are to be followed. What is currently being propogated is that the Administration through the Regional Executive Office alone decides on the persons appointed to serve on the Regional Tender Board, including choosing which Councilors should sit there. This must be corrected forthwith, since the Administration simply executes the decisions of the Council and should not be allowed to carry out these important functions in contravention to the direction of the Council.
We will therefore continue to insist that the Regional Executive Officer of Region 10, who acts as the Chairman of the Regional Tender Board, consult with and recognize the decision of the Regional Democratic Council of Region 10 with respect to those persons who sit on this Tender Board apart from those nominated by the National Procurement and Tender Administration. Avenues of redress to this situation are currently being explored and will definitely be exercised.
