For years now there have been calls for the Government – present and past – to re-examine and implement effective measures to keep contractors accountable, in order that contractors who are consistently delinquent could face the requisite level of debarment.
Finally, we see this Government taking a strong stance against contractors who were awarded Government contracts for months, and, although given advance payments, have not started projects.
The position taken by Public Works Minister Juan Edghill when he terminated the contract of N&S Contracting Services – which was awarded its contract in early 2022 and collected $22 million in mobilisation advance to construct one kilometre of road along El Dorado Road, Moleson Creek – is commendable.
To quote the Minister: “This has been more than seven months. There is no visible sign of any work being executed…the monies are available, the project has rolled over, and we will get the road delivered to the people…we’re not going to be in the mode of any contractor doing work when he feels like it. When contractors bid, even if they have another job, they have to show that they have the equipment, personnel, and financial wherewithal to execute that contract separately and apart from anything else they are doing…I will make sure that whoever is on the list to bid for this new work is a performing contractor that would have shown that they have the capacity to deliver.”
Time and time again, Edghill has been quoted in the media warning contractors about their delinquency in completing contracts, to the detriment of Guyanese. Some time ago, when there was a signing-off of some 199 contracts valued at almost $14 billion, the Finance Minister had called for a “close eye” to be kept on contractors. The warning by Dr Ashni Singh came even as the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration was still uncovering some of the inherited governmental infrastructure that one of his colleague Ministers refers to as a “rotting and… decayed” system. Additionally, the cautionary notice by Singh, that he would be visiting some of these sites “personally”, is laudable.
Over the years, and especially under the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration between 2015 and 2020, the quality of work that was carried out by some contractors engaged in public infrastructure projects was unbelievable, and most of those works cost the treasury millions of dollars. All around the country, one can point to numerous examples of substandard work, for which contractors were paid huge sums. In fact, in some cases, they were even overpaid.
As this publication has said, time and time again, in many cases, very little action was taken by the then APNU/AFC Administration against those errant contractors for not meeting their contractual obligations, resulting in them walking scot-free. In fact, some persons would even be shocked to learn that these same persons who have done poor work or left work uncompleted were awarded additional contracts.
Year after year, the Auditor General would highlight numerous examples of substandard or incomplete work in construction projects across the country – whether they be schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, etc.
The Auditor General, on more than one occasion, pointed to instances where projects were uncompleted or left abandoned, even though contractors were already paid huge sums to do a proper job. Many had asked what actions were being taken against these contractors to recoup those sums of money, or what sort of systems had been put in place to ensure those contracting firms were debarred from bidding for future projects.
While taxpayers had previously used different forums to complain, the relevant agencies had a duty to ensure that public monies were well spent and properly accounted for.
Prior to APNU/AFC demitting office, the then Public Infrastructure Ministry, which is now the Public Works Ministry, had said it was in the process of establishing a database that would keep a record of the number of projects awarded to local contractors, and their performance in respect to each. It would also be helpful if procuring entities keep proper records of the performance of companies in regard to projects awarded. This could be used as an effective measure to better inform the process for selecting competent contractors to handle Government projects.
One had hoped that the relevant mechanisms would have been put in place with the aim of ensuring those lapses are corrected. A contractor found to have a record of producing poor and incomplete work cannot, and should not, be awarded additional contracts. Such strict enforcement is needed to curb the unacceptable trend of substandard work.
