Year in review 2014

January 2014

Multi-billion $$$ drug contracts…Pre-qualification system flawed, must be scrapped – AFC says

Government’s multi-billion-dollar drugs purchases once again came under intense scrutiny.

The Alliance For Change (AFC) demanded that the administration scrap plans to shortlist or pre-qualify suppliers.

The last pre-qualification period expired on December 31, 2013, and the Ministry of Health had been looking to select the suppliers for the next three years.

A pre-qualified contractor is automatically considered when it is time to order critical or emergency supplies.

Now...

PPP in Govt from 1992- 2013

Again .... 

promise to Fix this Problem

January 2014

Georgetown Marriott Hotel… Brassington ‘mum’ on financial closure, casino operators

Winston Brassington promised an update, but didn’t provide any

Work is continuing apace at the construction site for the Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown, but it is unclear where the funding is coming from.

Chairman of Atlantic Hotels Inc (AHI) Winston Brassington, at the end of 2013, had promised an update in the New Year, but has refused to answer any calls made to him from this publication.

Brassington had indicated that there would be financial closure with the private investor before the end of 2013, but this did not happen.

The monies to be sourced through Republic Bank were yet to be secured, but the project continued.

Now...

PPP in Govt from 1992- 2013

Again .... 

Nothing is transparent

or Above Board

January 2014

Mazaruni plane crash…Victims’ remains brought to city, probe continues After three days in the Mazaruni Jungle, the bodies of a Trans Guyana Airways

Extra caution was exercised whilst cutting the plane to access the bodies, because of drums of fuel on board.

pilot and aircraft loader who perished in a plane crash were transported to the Ogle International Airport. Though Guyana Defence Force Special Forces discovered the bodies among the wreck, they were only able to execute the extraction after seventy-two hours. Extra caution was exercised whilst cutting the plane to access the bodies, because of seven drums of fuel on board. Relatives of the dead loader, Dwayne Jacobs and the Canadian High Commissioner Nicole Giles were at the airport when the bodies arrived. The pilot, Blake Slater, was a Canadian by birth and the holder of a Guyanese passport.

January 2014

Extra US$8M spent on V/Hoop GPL plant …CEO says dumped sand disappeared overnight in swamp, and this continued for months

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and top brass of the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) toured the construction site of the company’s latest generation plant at Vreed-en-Hoop, along with members of the media, and it was disclosed that the project was just about 20 per cent complete and would see cost overruns in the vicinity of US$8M.

GPL’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bharrat Dindyal, in providing an update, said that the increase in the cost was related to the civil works and not the Warstila Contract which remains at US$26M.

Dindyal said given the nature of the soil there had to be a significant amount of work to be done, more than had been envisaged.

He reiterated that when GPL first took possession of the site, it was a swamp.

In explaining the soil conditions and what they had to deal with, Dindyal said that when the contractors for the foundation first arrived on the site, their equipment immediately began sinking.

Dindyal said that they decided to dump sand, but this would disappear overnight into the swamp and this went on for months. According to the CEO, a decision was then taken to bring in geo-textile material and lay it down to allow some consolidation to get the heavy equipment around the site.

The new power plant had initially been set for commissioning in late 2013, but was pushed back to July 2014.

Now...

PPP in Govt from 1992- 2013

Again .... 

promise to End Blackout

but it continues