Investigation needed into awarding of Region 6 contracts

Dear Editor,
There is undoubtedly massive corruption in Region Six when it comes to awarding contracts, the standard of work done under these contracts and the getting of value for money under the procurement of goods and services contracts.
This growing trend will ensure the residents of this Region are grossly shortchanged and economic development negatively affected. Moreover, there seems to be no political will to arrest this cancerous epidemic which is likely to worsen with this new administration – finances just keep dissipating in a very rapid manner with actually nothing substantial being achieved.
I have seen a few persons, however, who have shown an undying effort to vent their frustration publicly at this growing trend.
I will present a few examples to support this factual claim:
There is an endless stream of ‘emergency’ situations in the health sector which are wilfully created in order to override the tendering process resulting in the enrichment of a few of the boys. This has transpired with amazing alacrity and frequency in the past year. The recurring ‘emergency’ is the procurement of drugs for the various medical facilities in the Region. It will be foolish to think this ‘emergency’ is not deliberate.
I could recall quite vividly when the previous administration was soundly lambasted for very little infractions. I could recall as well that this Coalition Government claimed to be having the panacea for the problems in the health sector. The question is: why this ’emergency’ situation one year after? This barefaced overriding of the tender rules is to enrich their friends and families and themselves!
I once again reiterate my call for a commission of inquiry into the health sector and to remove all the ‘square pegs’!
Another example is the awarding of a .1 million contract to empty nine septic tanks at the New Amsterdam Hospital. However, a little enquiry will suffice to provide evidence that the emptying of one such tank will cost about ,000. The total amount should have been about 0,000. Even if this is inflated to 0,000 each then it will still be around 0,000. To add insult to injury this contract was never tendered. Again it was single sourced!
It is a fact that we may be in an ‘emergency’ situation when going to the toilet but this emergency to dispose as well is overly imaginative. Why was this contract not tendered? The answer to this question is obvious.
Then there is the massive spending in the name of the 50thJubilee Independence celebration. This is the most obscene spending spree at a time when the economy is in shambles.
Now, there is an ‘emergency’ cleaning of the roadsides from New Amsterdam to Moleson Creek. Again this is a cleaning programme that should have been in the agenda since the 2016 Budget, hence there should have been more than enough time to tender this work to get a competitive bid and to afford transparency.
However, this work became an ‘emergency’ and the contracts were given to selected persons. The three contracts amounted to million.
Again, if one is to look at the roadsides it will defy a microscopic investigation to see where this million went!
The roadsides appear as normal – bushy, dirty and the drains clogged and teeming with garbage. Only an infinitesimal amount of work was done in and around New Amsterdam, the approach to the Berbice Bridge, and some hopscotched areas.
Lastly, the El Niño rains have also justified lots of emergency works to the extent that Region 6 may very well be in a situation where is has already expended more monies than was budgeted, but I guess an ‘emergency supplementary budget’ is already in the making.
If the boys in the previous administration took 23 years to get rich then I will assume that those in the Coalition Government are already there or not too far away!
Fifty years of independence have only made our politicians more greedy than ever for both power and money while the masses have been entrapped in a vicious circle of poverty.

Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
Councillor, Region Six