Two contracts under the supervision of the Public Security Minister right now are poster children for corruption in Guyana. The first is a contract to construct a prison building in Mazaruni for $3.5 billion, a contract awarded to the highest bidder. The second contract is a sole-sourced contract that I suspect will be a spectacularly large contract; one that will be many billions more than Mazaruni for the reconstruction of the Camp Street Prison. These examples, unfortunately, capture the corruption orgy that has swallowed up the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC). Political commentators and some media houses mostly have allowed these questionable deals to go largely unexamined. We commend the PPP Opposition for trying to bring these obviously questionable deals to the public’s attention.
Everyday there is yet another example of a questionable or corrupt deal that comes to the attention of the public. Everyday another preposterous excuse is made for another corrupt Government transaction. Sometimes, there is an example of a relatively small contract in a Government agency, in a municipality or in a regional Government. For example, we learnt recently of a $15 million bulldozer that was delivered to the Region Six Regional Democratic Council (RDC). The bulldozer turned out to be an obsolete model which was given a paint job and for which the REO of Region Six paid promptly, without the knowledge of the RDC Chairman. While many of these smaller contracts have not attracted much attention, there are large ones that each day come to the fore. Here are two examples:
First, the Public Security Ministry awarded a contract for the construction of a new building as part of the Mazaruni prisons. The contract was awarded to a Trinidadian company at a cost of $3.5 billion, the highest bidder. There were four other well-established contractors, Basso Construction Company, BK International, Courtney Benn, with bids approximately $1 billion below this Trinidadian contractor. Yet the APNU/AFC chose the highest bidder. Why were the local contractors who bid at least $1 billion less not considered? The country needs an explanation. At a time when the Government claims it cannot afford to pay sugar workers their severance payment which they are legally obligated to pay, how come APNU/AFC can afford to spend so much more money when qualified bidders offered to do the same work for $1 billion less? Now one of the local company is challenging the award in court.
The second example is the contract to build the prison at Camp Street. The Public Security Ministry has admitted that the contract is being awarded to an international company from the US and the company was sole-sourced because, according to him, no local company has the know-how to build a prison. This is after 20 local companies responded to an earlier tender which was mysteriously and secretly cancelled. Of course, this is a bogus excuse because whether we are looking for a local or an international company an open bidding process is required. Anytime, there is a sole-sourcing done secretly, something rotten is below the surface. The stench from the Minister’s explanation is suffocating. Judging from the contract size of the Mazaruni Prison, the Camp Street construction will be a massive contract, a cost that will exceed the EXXON signing bonus. How could they even contemplate a secret, sole-sourced contract that will cost taxpayers far, far more than $5 billion?
APNU/AFC made many promises during the election campaign in 2015. One of the many promises they made is that all Government contracts will adhere to strict international standards of transparency and accountability. Khemraj Ramjattan was one of the loudest and most persistent voices railing against the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government with the APNU/AFC mantra of corruption they alleged the PPP was responsible for. Ramjattan was one of the most belligerent voices promising that in Government APNU/AFC will never utilise sole-sourcing in Government procurement and that all Government contracts will result from wide and open advertisement, open tendering and fair award of contracts. The problem is that now APNU/AFC in Government has forgotten these promises or has dumped international standards for transparency and accountability into the garbage. Khemraj Ramjattan as one of the most persistent and passionate voices in making the promise to the Guyanese people that APNU/AFC would be accountable is himself in charge of some of the most spectacular questionable deals in Guyana. The question is where is SOCU and SARA?
