Government will, with assistance from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), re-establish a Central Planning Unit to revamp its procedures and fast-track the execution of projects.
Finance Minister, Winston Jordan
Finance Minister Winston Jordan made this disclosure on Thursday during a press conference, and said that Government will be looking at models used in the Caribbean.
“With this planning institution, we are hoping that, just like in Jamaica, we can have some kind of central projects’ body, so that it doesn’t impose these undue demands when you go at these little unit levels,” he told media operatives.
Lamenting that there is always a shortage of skills whenever Guyana secures a foreign-funded project, Jordan said this will be corrected through the establishment of the unit.
“With oil coming — and we are looking at big mega-projects: the bridge across the Demerara River… It’s scary how we would do those projects without the skillset if we were able to get the money,” he explained.
The Minister revealed that Government is now in the process of hiring a Chief Planning Officer, who would commence working at the beginning of July, 2017. While acknowledging the need for a more rigid tendering process, Jordan said steps would be taken to improve this area in the 10 administrative regions of Guyana. He said assistance to improve tendering has been provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and it is the Government’s intention to have this addressed soon.
“We would like to broaden the pool of evaluators. We can do some quick training on them, so that they can come and help us evaluate. We have a lot of in-breeding of the evaluation going on right now because the pool is very small, but we would like to broaden this pool,” he said.
He is encouraging retired teachers and former police officers to apply for these positions.
Jordan has also decried the rate of implementation of Guyana’s Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP), which he claimed has seen 20 percent of its work completed. “We would like to see far more done; and for this to happen, it is not so much us (which is the macro ministry) but it is the implementation ministries that we depend on. And there we have put up some recommendations, but I think (that), generally, it’s a combination of many things.”
Another reason for this sloth in implementation is the lack of quality staff. Given the accountability and transparency objective, it requires a systemic change in the way business is done in the public service, the minister explained.
“As a matter of ensuring proper accountability and transparency, it requires a little bit more time. (This) rather than calling up a friend or two, or you meeting at some particular hideout and giving them the contract,” he explained.
Minister Jordan has admitted that sloth in implementation of the programmes is unfavourably impacting on growth of the economy.
