On January 13th, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill terminated the contract for the El Dorado road located after Moleson Creek, Corentyne.
He took this step after the contractor, N&S General Engineering Contracting Services failed to start the project after receiving funds for mobilisation eight months ago. The contract which was for 1 km is a continuation of the Moleson Creek to El Dorado Road project which is vital for the construction of the planned Corentyne Bridge.
According to Mr Edghill, the contractor received a mobilisation advance of $22m some eight months and had not started any work. He added that he had asked to meet the contractor at the location at 8 am on the day in question but neither he nor the workers had put in an appearance.
Understandably nonplussed, the minister said “We are not going to be in a mode of any contractor doing work … when he feels to do it. When you finish something somewhere else then you gonna come and do this, when you get time when you get money, that is not the way we do it.”
There are numerous questions that arise from this cancellation. The first is why did eight months elapse with no work being done before the authorities acted decisively? Is the Region Six council paying any attention at all to these projects which fall within its zone of responsibility? There should be a sub-committee of the Region Six council undertaking inspections of all projects of this type no matter the procuring agency. At first sight of a problem, or in this case no work at all, the council should be badgering the contractor, the consultant, the procuring agency and the responsible ministry for action. The same must be said of the Jackson/Moleson Creek Neighbourhood Democratic Council. If local government is to mean anything, these councils must get their act together and get on with the job of monitoring these projects.
What steps will the government now take against the contractor? Will he be made to immediately repay the mobilisation figure of $22m? Is there a bond covering this advance that can be accessed? Will this contractor be sued for breach of contract? Will debarment provisions under the Procurement Act be applied to the contractor and his company?
The elephant in the room is the question of how this contractor was able to secure the contract in the first place. What did the Evaluation Committee of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) see in this contracting company and its bid? Are the bona fides of these contractors being carefully examined?
The issue arose again just on Thursday. A contractor working on the Princes Street sluice was peremptorily dismissed for shoddy work which caused flooding in Charlestown and Albouystown. This time it was the Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha who fired the contractor.
“We went through a very transparent process with these contracts. The company submitted (a bid) and was awarded the contract based on their submission. Today, we are having a very good weather, people are being affected because of faulty work by the contractor… This is the first time we are working with this company and as minister, I am very dissatisfied. When we took office, we made it clear that we want everyone to be given a fair chance to work with the government and receive contracts, but if you are not experienced or have experienced people working for you, you will find yourself in a similar situation and we do not take these situations lightly”, he said.
The minister then went on to say that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority has been advised to terminate the $11.6m contract and award
an emergency contract to a company with “more experience”. The fact that the minister adduced the experience of the company immediately raises the question of how inexperienced companies could be winning these contracts over more seasoned contractors. Are they bidding low and being approved without the Evaluation Committees exercising better judgement?
A huge amount of money belonging to the people of this country is being sunk by the PPP/C government into a dizzying array of projects. The government’s solemn responsibility and obligation is to ensure that the money is properly spent and value for money attained. It is clear, as it has been for a long time, that the procuring entities, the NPTAB and the evaluation committees are doing a poor job in their various responsibilities to ensure that the best job possible is done. Perhaps the government will now make haste with an Engineer’s Bill.
This outrageous practice of the unqualified being allowed to win contracts for schools and other facilities when they haven’t built anything must be brought to an end. Given the gigantic 2023 budget and massive works scheduled, President Ali and the Public Procurement Commission must take whatever action is necessary to protect the public purse.
