No new staff, extra costs for establishing contract monitoring units – AG

…says scholarships will be offered to prepare Govt workers

As the Guyana Government moves to enforce contractual compliance on public projects, steps are being taken to bolster the state’s monitoring capability and these efforts will not place additional burden on the public purse.
This assurance was given by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, during his weekly programme – Issues in the News.
In recent weeks, government has been clamping down on delinquent contractors and has moved to enforce contract evaluation units at ministries and states agencies to monitor works being executed and hold contractors accountable.
Additionally, the Attorney General chambers will also establish a Contract Compliance Unit to support these other units to go after errant contractors. The units are tasked with looking into delays in the execution of government projects and instituting penalties including liquidated damages, forfeiture of bonds and other securities, termination of contracts and further sanctions.
However, there have been criticisms that this was just another smokescreen that is not only a waste of taxpayers’ money but an added layer of bureaucracy. In fact, some have argued that the contractors have consultants and engineers who should be engaged rather than establish new units.
But according to AG Nandlall, the systems in place are “clearly not working in the manner that it should.” To this end, he posited that government had to find new ways to ensure it is getting value for the money spent on these public projects.
“You have something – it is clear and undisputed that it is not working, is a government not entitled to innovate, to make a change in order to get the system to work? …We will continue to try every day, to endeavour every day to improve efficiency in government so that we can, with greater alacrity and greater expediency, deliver better quality services and goods to the people of our country,” he posited.
The Attorney General further assured that this move to establish a Contract Compliance Unit in his Chamber and similar units within the other ministries dedicated to evaluating the performance of contractors will not burden the public purse.
“This initiative ought not to cost the government and the taxpayers a single extra cent… It is not a decision to establish new units but to make functional, units that are already established within these ministries and to refocus them in the direction of evaluating and monitoring the execution of these contracts. The intent is not to create another unit or another layer of bureaucracy… I wish to reject [this] absolutely,” Nandlall stated.
He went onto add, “The new unit which is to be established with the Attorney General’s Chamber will be manned by existing staff in the Attorney General’s Chamber. No new staff is going to be hired for this purpose, at least not at this stage.”
Meanwhile, in an effort to prepare the officers in these units to monitor and evaluate works being executed by contractors on public projects, scholarships will be offered to at least 50 persons.
Consequently, the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) administration has been asked to offer courses in the areas of contract management, contract monitoring and contract evaluation. These programmes will come from the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC).
“Fifty current officers within the government structure will be offered scholarships – 50 one time. And they would be spread across the sectors. In almost every sector, we will select persons including lawyers from the Legal Affairs Ministry… All of that is to enhance the government’s ability and the government’s capacity to monitor, evaluate and enforce these contracts for the betterment of the people of Guyana,” AG Nandlall noted.
This move follows strict orders by President Dr Irfaan Ali that penalties outlined in a number of government contracts be enforced for companies that continue to default on their contractual obligations. The President’s comment was made at a meeting earlier this month with engineers and project managers from the Ministries of Public Works and Housing to discuss the status of major infrastructure projects.
Since that engagement, Government has moved to terminate the contract of at least one contractor – Trinidad-based Kalco Guyana Incorporated which had abandoned its works on a section of the Conversation Tree to Dennis Street Road Expansion Project.
Initially pegged at over $1.8 billion, the road project was split into two lots, with the first lot having already been completed by S. Jagmohan Construction and General Supplies Inc. However, the second phase, which was awarded to the Trinidadian company, has been stalled for several months now, and that contractor has been flagged on multiple occasions for poor performance.
Last week, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill told the Guyana Times, the ministry has moved to activate the contract termination process with Kalco. He added that they are also in the process of sourcing a new contractor to complete the road project.