President warns of tighter penalties for errant contractors
-wants law amended for better policing of contract works
Georgetown GINA, august 3, 2012 -- Source
In what can be considered one of his most candid addresses, President Donald Ramotar told contractors and suppliers of goods and services to tighten their belts or be prepared to face unprecedented penalties.
The occasion was a Procurement Symposium held at the behest of the Head of State as part of the Government’s commitment to strengthen and create room for improvement in the public procurement system.
President Donald Ramotar speaking at the Procurement Symposium
Speaking to a large representation of stakeholders at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC), President Ramotar, who Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh described as a champion for accountability at the level of the Cabinet and other forums, spoke about the immeasurable delays, overruns and variations in contracts that overburden taxpayers’ dollars.
The President’s address spoke to tardiness in persons meeting their contractual obligations and using the rainy season as the excuse to file for an extension of the job. He opined that contractors, who are au-fait with the climatic conditions of the country, should by now take adaptable approaches.
It was on a similar premise that the government in early January moved to terminate the contract awarded to Synergy Holdings for construction of the access road to the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project. The decision was taken after the company owned by Fip” Motilall failed to honour one of the terms of a completion agreement.
A section of the large gathering of stakeholders at the Procurement Symposium at the Guyana International Conference Centre
“I’m asking the Ministry of Finance and, the Office of the Attorney General to reexamine these laws because I don’t think taxpayers should be paying for these all the time. I think we must put in the laws and, I have instructed them that we must implement clauses in our contracts for penalties where people sign contracts and without valid reason cannot complete their contracts,” the Head of State said.
The President maintains the view that design engineers, consultants, supervisors and other aides who are integral factions in work that is found lagging, should also bear the blame and, in this regard called for the laws to be amended to cater to this group of defaulters as well.
He even believes that the possibility of blacklisting consistent defaulters should be considered as it is probably the only way of achieving value for “hard earned” money that the country spends.
“Poor supervision also leads to shabby work and costing us considerable sums. Very often a lot of work has to go back and be done … that should have been completed already. These are things that we cannot tolerate,” President Ramotar affirmed.
Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh speaking at the Procurement Symposium
The government sees accountability as a key pillar in the building and strengthening of democracy in the country and President Ramotar regards it as a characteristic feature of the state.
Contracts are awarded based on a rigid system of scrutiny where Cabinet’s only input is to offer a no objection’. However, if dissatisfied, the contract returns to the recommending body - National Procurement and Tender Board, for re-evaluation.
The Finance Minister explained that the absence of legislation prior to 2003 saw the procurement and tender process being administered through an administrative circular but, with the passage of the Procurement Act the national procurement and tender administration was established and an E-procure website created where all government advertisements are posted.
Dr. Singh touts the public procurement system as unparalleled in the Caribbean and is serving national objectives of accountability and transparency, competitiveness and economic growth.
There was recognition however of the need for improvement and the President believes that the first line of business in this endeavour is to create room for inclusivity by rotating the technical experts selected to evaluate bids.
Minister within the Ministry of Finance Bishop Juan Edghil speaking at the Procurement Symposium
Such an approach, the President believes, will broaden the pool of contractors and service providers and encourage value for money in the way public procurement is executed.
“If one were to examine the legislative and administrative frameworks that we have put in place, I believe that it would be fair to say that these frameworks can withstand the most rigorous of scrutiny,” Minister Singh said.
Yesterday, more than 200 procurement evaluators from the administrative regions, ministries and agencies were at a workshop at the GICC, prior to the hosting of today’s Symposium.
“We are seeking to enhance their efficiency…to ensure that they grasp some of the challenges they would have been having in the past because the ultimate aim is to ensure that public procurement in Guyana is more transparent, more accountable and there is increased bidders’ confidence,” Minister within the Ministry of Finance Juan Edghill said yesterday.
The objective of the Procurement Symposium was to raise public education and awareness of the procurement process, as this will provide all stakeholders of the procurement process with the necessary information so that bidders’ confidence in the procurement process can be built to ensure more participation.
