“We’re watching you” – Ashni Singh warns contractors

…as $13.9B contracts signed for housing development

The Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) on Tuesday signed a record-setting 199 contracts valued at almost $14 billion, with contractors being warned that the Government will be watching them to ensure their work is up to standard.

Issuing this warning was Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, who was present during the presentation of the contracts at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. Singh urged the Ministry of Housing and the CH&PA to keep a close eye on the contractors and warned that he would be visiting the works personally.
“We must not sign today and then have to chase contractors down to see work happen. And I’m referring here to the Ministry of Housing. You are to enforce your contracts very strictly. We would like to see mobilisation happen and it must happen. And those not capable of mobilising quickly or meeting the timelines and delivering… good quality work.”
“Minister Croal and team, you have an important responsibility to ensure that these contracts are executed on time and in line with specifications. It is my intention to visit some of these communities, to see what is happening on the ground. So, I urge the Ministry to ensure that implementation proceeds immediately,” the Minister said.
According to Minister Singh, this is an opportunity for the contractors to demonstrate their capability to implement their contracts in an efficient way. In particular, he noted that medium-scale contractors also have an opportunity to demonstrate that they are ready for bigger projects.
Meanwhile, Housing Minister Collin Croal detailed how the $13.9 billion in housing contracts will be spent throughout the year. According to him, the contracts are a testament to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government’s commitment to the housing sector.
“In this year alone, for the first half of this year, and these are committed funds, we are referring to an investment of $4.1 billion by June of this year, with an additional $6 billion in the last half for these contracts that we’re signing here.”
“In Region Three alone, we’re referring to an investment of $2.2 billion for five areas. In Region Four, an investment of $6.6 billion. In Region Six, an investment of just under $1 billion. That, for all who’re listening, is what the PPP Government represents whereby we walk the walk,” he said.
The contracts in question will be to do infrastructural works necessary to develop housing schemes, as well as to construct actual houses. Infrastructural work will be done in Regions Three, Four, Five and Six. In fact, these works will account for 85 per cent of the overall total.
The villages that will be benefitting from infrastructural works are Anna Catherina, Cornelia Ida, Edinburgh, Stewartville, Mon Repos, Vigilance, Bladen Hall, Strathspey, La Bonne Intention (LBI), Great and Little Diamond, Prospect and Providence.
During the ceremony, it was explained that a total of 60 contractors will benefit from these contracts, including 26 new contractors. Meanwhile, a total of four contracts have had to be retendered. These contracts pertain to infrastructural works on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) and the East Bank of Demerara (EBD).
Since coming to office, the PPP Government has made it clear that it intends to fulfil its manifesto promise to distribute 50,000 house lots over the next five years. The Government has allocated $6 billion for enhancing infrastructure in existing housing areas. A significant sum has also been set aside for improving water service and developing new wells. (G3)