Money, money, money!
Jun 26, 2016 , http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....6/money-money-money/
If I had to live my life over again, I would choose Guyana. It is a beautiful country destroyed by dishonest people. If I were given a second chance at life in Guyana, I would choose a career as a contractor. This is where the big money is being made.
When I was a child, I tried to make a wooden go-kart. I almost crushed my fingers with the hammer trying to nail two pieces of wood together.
That was the end of my attempts to do carpentry. I should have persisted.
When today I read about the amounts of money that certain works are costing, when I read of the sums owed to contractors, when I see estimates of works to be done, I regret that I did not pursue a career as a carpenter. I could have graduated today to be a carpenter and nailed down one of those multi-million-dollar contracts being offered under the new government.
Reports in the media indicate that it cost the government over two hundred million dollars to complete the stands at D’Urban Park. The completion involved placing sheds over the twenty-odd stands and strengthening them. That works out to about ten million dollars per stand. That is a lot of money for sheds.
But that is only for the reinforcement and enhancement works to the sheds. If it cost over two hundred million dollars just to put up the sheds and strengthen the stands, what did it cost to build the stands? It has to be billions of dollars involved here.
Whoever got that contract for the construction of the stands is one lucky bloke, because that is a multi-billion-dollar contact.
Then there is the report in the media about a contractor who did part of the work on the Merriman Mall, where a presidential park is being constructed. We are told that for some works done here, as well as for the cleaning of the Stabroek Market Square, one contractor is owed as much as two hundred million dollars by City Hall.
This is a lot of money, and shows the value of the contracts being signed. All of this is taking place while the Guyana Public Service Union, the representative union for public servants, is beginning its bargaining with the government by asking for forty per cent. It should be encouraging its membership to become contractors, so as to be able to bid for some of the multi- million-dollar contracts that are on offer.
The Kitty Market is under reconstruction. When the works first started, it was reported that the renovation would cost around two hundred and forty million dollars. That is a lot of money. And even if a contractor makes 5% profit on the works, that would be about twelve million dollars for a couple of months labour. Not a bad living in a piss-poor country where a loaf of bread is US$1.50.
What would also be interesting to know is whether any of the works mentioned before – the building of the stands, the construction of the presidential mall, the cleaning of Stabroek Market Square, the construction of the stands at D’Urban Park and the renovation works to Kitty Market, were ever subject to public tender. In fact, it would be interesting to know the cost of the cleaning works in Georgetown – who got the contracts, and whether those works were ever put up for public bidding.
The big bucks are in construction. Young people should go into construction. Do not worry to become public servants. Forty per cent is the best you will get. The Ministers got fifty, but the Public Service Union is beginning their negotiations at forty. They may end up settling for ten per cent.
Meantime, across town, the contractors are nailing down multi-million-dollar contracts, which, even if their mark-up is only 5 per cent, still leaves them with a healthy pay check every month.
If only I had become a carpenter.
