President Ali slams delinquent contractors & no-show officials in fiery early morning meeting

…cracks down on complacent engineers, consultants, PSs & Ministers

In a stern, no-nonsense early-morning meeting at State House on Tuesday, President Dr Irfaan Ali sent a clear message to delinquent contractors and complacent government officials, warning them that delays and mismanagement in public projects will no longer be tolerated.

The president summoned ministers, permanent secretaries, engineers, consultants, technical staff and contractors who are four month and more behind on contractors to a 05:30h meeting, bringing forward a harsh reality check for those responsible for numerous stalled or overdue projects.
During his engagement with those present, the Guyanese leader expressed frustration at the alarming state of delays across the country, however, to the president’s dismay, numerous key officials and contractors were either absent or late to the meeting—a telling sign of the ‘lackadaisical attitude’ that has allowed inefficiencies to fester.
Contractors were not the only stakeholders absent from Tuesday’s meeting. In fact, the Tourism Industry and Commerce Minister, Oneidge Walrond, her Permanent Secretary Sharon Roopchand-Edwards as well as Human Services and Social Security Minister, Vindhya Persaud and her Permanent Secretary, Dawn Ellis were not present.
One notable example was the Permanent Secretary for the Local Government and Regional Development Ministry, who arrived late, underscoring the pervasive issue of indifference among top officials.
Other persons who arrived late were left at the gate given that all attendees were instructed to be seated between 05:00 and 05:20h.
It was noted that Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton is overseas, hence his absence.
“Your problem starts in house, there is a total lack of commitment. I am being very frank, today I am not here to massage anything and if y’all continue to allow it we wouldn’t get any success. Of all the contractors invited from your sector (Education Ministry) one is here.”
“If the engineers are not turning up on time, the contractors will not turn up on time, if the consultant is not turning up on time, the contractors will not turn up on time. It’s a systemic cultural problem that must change.”

Termination
In a resolute response, Ali warned that contractors whose projects remain incomplete by year-end and are more than four months overdue will face termination and blacklisting. The government will also impose liquidated damages on those failing to meet their contractual obligations.
“If you have projects to be completed finish them before you bid again because you will find yourself not being able to bid because you’ll be blacklisted. All of the projects that are here that have not been completed before the end of the year will be terminated and the records will be sent to the tender board”.
On this point, the Head of State underscored the need for a shift in mindset across the public sector, emphasising that the culture of complacency in project execution must end. The message was unequivocal, going forward, all parties involved in national development are expected to meet the highest standards of responsibility and timeliness.
“From this very meeting, the approach of some of the contractors and engineers tell me that the right balance of energy is not existing for an effective project management environment. If you don’t have the right structure for an organization, the right attitude – you’re starting negatively.”

Objections
During the hour-long session, the president discovered systemic issues in project management, including a breakdown in communication among ministry officials.
Adding to the frustration, the meeting uncovered that several companies had been erroneously listed as delinquent due to administrative oversights, such as not having received their official commencement letters from the relevant ministries.
Additionally, some ministries, including the Local Government and Regional Development Ministry, had failed to maintain accurate and complete records of delinquent contractors.
“I don’t want no bluffing… because if I go and find more project not in schedule I will ask you to remove yourself from the situation,” Ali said.
“How the man completion time will be in effective if he aint get a start time as yet. If the project is six months and the man in get a start date as yet, how will you count his completion date, this don’t require engineering science” he added.
Over eleven contracts were flagged by the Education Ministry for its delayed completion, however, only one contractor showed up to the meeting to provide clarity on why his company is lagging behind.
The consultant overseeing these works, though present, was unable to answer questions posed by the President, “thus hindering progress further.”
“You’re the consultant, you’re supposed to be here before the contractor and if you had any courtesy or even any respect for your own capability the first thing you would have done is to check if your contractors were here… It’s a lazy affair approach to this work”.
While Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal was present at the engagement both the Head of the Engineering Department and Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) were absent due to their late arrival.
The names of 13 contractors were called by all were no shows. In addition to this, the Head of State revealed that there were contractors who have delayed projects but names were not on the list provided to him for verification.
“This is not the full list… because I can tell you that Kissoon, Jeffery’s and the other company in the hinterland are all four months behind. I told y’all to get the correct list and the Ministers accepted this list”.
Similarly, of the 43 contractors called for delays within the Public Works Ministry, 27 were attended the meeting and 17 didn’t.

Compliance
Following concerns raised over the awarding of contracts to selected contractors and the inability to meet project deadlines or build according to specifications, Government has, in the past few months, embarked on the pursuit of greater accountability within the procurement processes across all sectors. Among the initiatives announced are the establishment of a Contract Compliance Unit (CCU) within the Ministry of Legal Affairs and other units being established within the various ministries in order to assess the performance of contractors.
It was also announced in August that a nationwide initiative is underway to digitize contractor evaluations in order to combat and eradicate corruption in the public procurement process. This new system aims to standardize and enhance the ability of the Evaluation Committee of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) to monitor infrastructural projects and the allocation of Government contracts to various entities.
Contractors are currently required to report to the Evaluation Committee on the status of ongoing projects and the percentage of work completed on those projects. However, due to the dishonesty of several contractors, the Government, by way of a direct order from President Ali, has begun to pursue liquidated damages for delayed state projects. In this regard, as of July, approximately $3 billion in charges for liquidated damages have been instituted over delays in public projects awarded through the Ministries of Public Works, Housing and Water, and Agriculture, among others.
The Public Works Ministry had, as of July 2024, issued letters to contractors on 365 projects which had experienced unjustified delays, seeking liquidated damages of $934.65 million. Additionally, Government has made it clear that regional administrators and engineers would also be held accountable if they do not penalise contractors for breaches of their contracts. (G1)