Former Govt consultants chastised for approving deficient work

– Auditor General says negligence cost state millions

Supervising consultants at various Ministries and Departments are usually the gatekeepers who ensure the Government gets its monies’ worth and that contractors do not rip off the state. But according to Auditor General Deodat Sharma, the negligence of these consultants has in the end wound up costing the state millions.

According to Sharma in his 2019 report, there were several instances wherein supervising consultants failed to act in the best interest of the Government. One such case is with the contract to construct the St. Roses High School.
“The Ministry of Education made full payments on a contract to a consultant for design and supervision services for the construction of St. Roses Secondary School, which included the foundation designs. However, the foundation was later deemed inadequate, and the Ministry had to engage the services of two additional consultants to redesign the foundations for the school,” Sharma detailed in his report.

Courtney Benn Contracting Services Limited (CBCSL), the contractor who was initially awarded the contract, worth over $350 million, through the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) to construct the school, has since been booted off the project.
Last month, it was revealed that Attorney General Anil Nandlall, on behalf of the Government, wrote to the CBCSL informing them that the contract was being terminated on the grounds that they had failed to complete the project in a timely manner and in accordance with work schedules.
“…Your company has committed a fundamental breach of the terms of the contract, and as a result thereof, the Government of Guyana hereby exercises its right to terminate the contract with immediate effect,” Nandlall set out in his letter.
Another case highlighted by the AG was the construction of the Ministry of Finance’s new Annex building, for which an advance payment of $64.5 million was made in 2017. The AG noted that as at December 31, 2019, $26.5 million out of that advance payment had not been recovered, while the bond for the remaining balance expired since last year.
There were also issues with the then Ministry of Public Telecommunications, which made full payments to an engineering firm for design and supervision services to renovate a call centre building in Linden.
“However, our physical verification on September 4, 2020 revealed that there was no representative from the consultant on site to supervise the works. Further, the roof sheeting installed did not meet the specifications in the contract, while materials valuing $16.2 million, already paid for, were not on site.”
Other instances of supervising consultants dropping the ball include projects to expand the offices of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) headquarters, where, according to the Auditor General, the consultants “prepared and recommended full payments in several instances for works which were not completed by the contractors at the time.”
It was a similar case at the Ministry of Public Health, which engaged a consultant to supervise the construction of its head office building. The AG noted that valuations for payments were prepared without any breakdown of the works being paid for.
“Instead, only a summary sheet with the sums being paid for was prepared and submitted by the consultant, recommending payment to the contractor. In addition, it was noted that payments totalling $26.4 million were made as lump sums for variation works which, as a consequence, could not be measured and quantified.”