Govt. continues old ways of “no transparency” with Dax contract – Ralph Ramkarran

The Government has come under heavy fire from Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran, who described its recent contract with Dax Contracting Services Ltd (Dax) as having “all the hallmarks of criticisms made against the Government in relation to procurement.”

Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran

That agreement sees Dax being given a 25 year maintenance contract with the option to renew for an additional 15 years. The maintenance contract is for the rehabilitation of the Brazil to Guyana fibre optic cable. Dax, which is owned by Faisal Mohamed, was also granted millions worth in tax breaks and holidays in exchange for the maintenance of the cable. The Former Speaker aired his criticism on the agreement in a recent post on his blog, The Conversation Tree entitled “Axe the Dax”. The former House Speaker said that this particular cable project has been plagued with controversy, as it was to be part of the E-Governance Project, which had the objective of providing Government agencies with the capacity to develop ICT capabilities. This is despite the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) Company’s fibre optic cable having the capacity to satisfy all of Guyana’s Telecommunication need. With the implementation of another fibre optic cable, the Government is being accused of undermining GT&T, as they could have purchased the cable from the telephone company which would have proven to be far more cost effective. “The contract between the Government and Dax Engineering Company Inc. in relation to the E-governance Georgetown to Brazil fibre optic cable, drew loud objections from APNU (A Partnership for National Unity) and the WPA (Working People’s Alliance), both vowing to rescind it,” wrote Ramkarran. The political commentator further highlighted the provisions which were granted to Dax under the Government contract; that being the access Dax has to use the entire fibre optic cable, repeater stations, infrastructure and equipment for 25 years, with an option a 15 renewal. The agreement also includes enormous tax benefits, in return for repairing the cable as well as Dax being given licenses to “transmit and receive data and information”. In his article, Ramkarran explained that while the constitution and other legal avenues do not object to the contract, “entering into important contractual obligations or arrangements by the Government after the announcement of elections is prohibited by convention.” To this end, Ramkarran posited that the Government is unbothered by the principles of transparent governance, as the recent timing of the agreement with Dax is testament of that. Moreover, the former politician outlined three issues that arise from Government’s most recent procurement. The first of which being the timing of the contract so close to elections with the second being that the terms appear to have already been negotiated and is a “complete giveaway”. The latter he said is contrary to Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon’s indication that negotiations were still necessary to determine the number of “pairs” in the cable that Dax would eventually receive. The third of these issues, according to Ramkarran, is the failure of the Government to transparently advertise bids for the project. According to the former PPP member, such issues present a clear vindication of those who were initially against the project due to the suspicion that it was being set up in competition to the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) to benefit cronies. However, Ramkarran said that the Government may claim that circumstances necessitated the privatisation of the project, but stressed that this move will result in a “destructive competitive environment”, with respect to a product which will be in oversupply as a result of Government action. “It will result in an undermining of market forces and loss of confidence by the business community in the Government’s bonafides with respect to creating fair conditions for creative competition to flourish,” wrote Ramkarran. In concluding his article, Ramkarran stated that the awarding of a contract more suitable for competitive bidding and has implications for an entire industry, continues the Government’s “old ways” of “no transparency”. This, he said, is despite the PPP/C’s promise to deal with corruption. “The other companies which have been granted permission to lay fibre optic cables have also been undermined by this act,” concluded the former speaker. !