Delayed US$32M fibre optic cable…Be it the President’s son or anyone else’s, we will still ask questions– Joseph Harmon

Parliament’s largest Opposition faction, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), yesterday defended questions on the Government’s US$32M fibre optic project from Brazil.

APNU MP, Joseph Harmon

Speaking during a press conference before the start of first sitting of the National Assembly yesterday, APNU Member of Parliament (MP), Joseph Harmon, insisted that questions posed by his faction are critical and have nothing to do with the fact that sitting at the head of the E-Governance is Alexei Ramotar, son of President Donald Ramotar. The project is under intense scrutiny following disclosures by the Office of the President that the fibre optic cable, designed to provide government offices with its own secured internet connections, was two months behind schedule, and there is need to make critical changes. Harmon, through APNU, had immediately signaled intentions to raise questions over the project. Harmon said that it is of no concern that Ramotar is the son of the President, or related to Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, or anyone for that matter, even if it is “my son, I will ask the questions.” The MP said that Finance Minister, Dr. Singh, had sought to castigate him in the press, after the questions were raised. He disagreed that APNU was chasing away investors as is being insinuated by Dr. Singh. Rather, the questions were spurred by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, who admitted of the delays. “You are now taking about redesigning a project. You have given a contractor your house to build, and you told him you wanted this house to be completed in six months; you have a budget. Two years, six months later, the contractor comes to you and says ‘look, we need to redesign this house’. There is something wrong. You would not tell him to haul his a…, you would probably give him a boot in that part of his anatomy. It is inconceivable that after such a long time, you can now come back to say I’m sorry; I need some more time.” Harmon said that among other things, APNU asked that the Prime Minister provide details on how much over-budget the project is. APNU also wants details of Ramotar’s previous experience with fibre optics, including with installation, designing and capacity to manage such a project. Also requested were details of Ramotar’s monthly pay. He does not rule out asking about details for other staffers too. “These are questions that any Guyanese would ask for a project that is worth in the vicinity of US$32M. This is our money.  We have persons who are being paid on a monthly basis to run this project.

E-Governance Project Head, Alexei Ramotar

The project is two years behind. Actually, what you would be doing is eating up the cost, or the monies for this project,  by just paying salaries and wages, and therefore this is the basis for my asking what were the cost overruns.” He also questioned whether any public process was followed to hire Ramotar. “My comfort to them is that this is the tip of the iceberg. More questions will be asked.” The MP was also concerned about the actual project itself and what would happen at the end of it. Will it only benefit the government or are there other parties involved? “When Dr. Singh is talking about chasing away investors, we are also talking about protecting the investments that are already here in Guyana. If you can’t stand the scrutiny, if you are doing legitimate business, you don’t have anything to fear from us. We would not sit idly by and see Guyanese monies being frittered away on persons who are not doing their work.”