The Parliamentary Opposition will be writing to the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) to investigate recently disclosed details surrounding the use of taxpayers’ monies on a consultancy services for the feasibility study and design for the new Demerara River bridge.
The disclosure came from Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, during his Thursday (June 6, 2019) news conference. “We want explanations,” he declared.
The 2018 Public Procurement Commission report, following its investigation into the procurement of consultancy services for the feasibility study and design for the new Demerara River bridge made clear that there was breach of Guyana’s procurement laws. The PPC report noted that Cabinet approved some $161.5M for the contract, while the actual contract price was $148M. The $13.5M remains unaccounted for.
Jagdeo, last week, noted that the $13.5M is not the only sum in question. He pointed out that PPC report, on page 7, also disclosed that the monies for the feasibility study and design for the new Demerara River bridge were taken from the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (Asphalt Plant Accounts).
And according to him, information reaching the Parliamentary Opposition indicated that the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (Asphalt Plant Accounts) was used as to source millions more than was previously known – in 2017 a total of $215.37M was paid for work on the feasibility study and design for the new Demerara River bridge; and in 2018, another $74M was paid.
Additionally, the Opposition Leader disclosed that information indicated that the full $148M was not the sum received from the company providing the consultancy services – rather it was millions less. “The foreign company needs to be brought in and everyone must be questioned,” he said.
The foreign company involved was a Dutch Company, LivenseCSO.