Dear Editor,
In a SN letter of Jan. 8, Professor Emeritus Budhu, reviewed the Audit General’s Reports (AGR) for Yrs. 2019 and 2020, and identified a number of problems which the Govt. encountered in the construction of its infrastructure projects. He concluded that these problems will continue to fester unless steps are taken to rectify their underlying causes, particularly so, since Govt. plans to embark on an ambitious infrastructure program for its planned double digit economic growth, from the resources generated by the rapidly expanding offshore oil industry.
Professor Budhu’s evaluation of some of the problems outlined in the AGR are worthy of consideration for necessary changes. However, he did not dwell on the key issue, given in the AGR, which he concurred as the underlying cause for the plethora of transgressions and creative corrupt practices in the execution of infrastructure projects across several Government Ministries, which as he stated, has eroded public trust and is hampering development. The key issue the AGR noted why many Govt. contracts were corruptible with large time and costs overruns and scant oversights, was because of poor and/or lack of accountability and adequate construction management/supervision, as many of the Government’s engineering contracts for a variety of works were executed by several ministries with teams of incompetent, corrupt and unqualified personnel.
Therefore, there is urgent need for the Government to re-organize and consolidate its various engineering departments with the capability of providing all its engineering needs, and staffed with competent technical and managerial personnel. Before doing so however, the Govt. needs to know what engineering capabilities it has, what it needs are, and how these could be met to adequately satisfy the country’s requirements. Hence the need for a commission to examine the country’s existing engineering capability, its requirements in terms of personnel and ancillary facilities, and support associated thereto, such as surveyors, hydrologists, architects, laboratories etc. The commission should comprise of experienced personnel, some of whom could probably come from the World Bank, of which Guyana is a member.
It is worth noting that in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, the then Ministry of Works and Hydraulics (MW&H) under the Colonial Govt, had such an organisation which was responsible for successfully implementing most of the country’s development projects, which are still functioning today. Unfortunately, the MW&H was broken-up by successive Governments after independence, and these splinter teams, located in several other ministries with incompetent and corrupt personnel, have severely weakened the country’s engineering capability as many of the competent staff of the MW&H left Guyana for ‘greener pastures’ and political directives became the order of the day, particularly in the execution and directives of engineering related works and services.
Sincerely,
Charles Sohan
