Jagdeo accuses Harmon of lying to keep Govt contracts secret

Jul 14, 2016 News

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon

Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, has countered statements that Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, made last week about making Government contracts public.
Jagdeo said that the contracts to which Harmon referred do not contain any confidentiality clause.
Harmon had said that the contracts which the PPP/C government signed during its time in office have within them confidentiality clauses, which prevent the current administration from disclosing the contents of the agreements.
Yesterday, in a press conference at Freedom House, Jagdeo made it clear that he has been calling for the government to publish both the evaluation reports for several projects and contracts which the government had deemed to be corrupt.
Jagdeo considers it “absolute nonsense” that the Minister of State would inform the public that the PPP/C had included confidentiality clauses in government contracts.
“I have never seen a more inexcusable excuse for lack of transparency…The evaluation reports don’t have any confidentiality clause; this is the property of the government and people of Guyana.”
Jagdeo said that normally there is a confidentiality clause in the process of negotiating during the pre-contract stage. According to him, this is a standard business practice around the world and is done so as to protect information of the other party.
Jagdeo went on to say “Once the contract is signed then these are agreements and are property of government.”

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo

The Opposition Leader is of the view that the government is reluctant to release the details of the contracts because it will show that what they were labelling the contracts to be is far from the truth.
Jagdeo believes that if the evaluation report for the Specialty Hospital is published it would vindicate his party and show that Fedders Lloyd was disqualified for good reasons and is not the second ranked bidder which the government reported it to be.
Fedders Lloyd is the Indian Firm which had been contracted to construct the Specialty Hospital in Guyana.
Jagdeo wants the government to publish evaluation reports and contracts for the Specialty Hospital, the Road to Amaila Falls, the pre-qualification for drugs from the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (GPC) and the Marriott Hotel.
“The evaluation reports will show that in each of these cases we had gone through competitive tendering processes.” According to Jagdeo there is a provision for government contracts to be tabled in Parliament. He said that there is absolutely no state secret in the contracts, inclusive of the Bai Shan Lin agreement.
In an interview with Kaieteur News, Harmon had said that if the government is to go ahead and make these contracts public, it will leave the government open to court action. According to him, the contracts have privacy clauses and neither party is allowed to disclose the details of the agreement.
President David Granger had on many occasions called for the release of these controversial agreements. The Head of State believes that only contracts concerning national security and the sourcing of defence equipment should be kept a secret.

9 thoughts on “Jagdeo accuses Harmon of lying to keep Govt contracts secret”

RLSG July 14, 2016 at 7:47 am

So who is really in charge here .. Joseph Harmon or David Granger ? If David Granger is calling for the release of the controversial agreements why is Harmon not obeying his command and why is he allowed to get away with it ? Once again he is disobeying a request from the President just as in the past when he did not release information on his controversial trip to China when ordered to do so.
This government is shaping up to be just as corrupt as the PPP. I always thought that David Granger may be a learned man but he seems to be lacking ‘street sense’ and turning out to be just another push over. At least that is the perception among many.
Maybe it is true that Granger may be wearing the title of President but Harmon is the power behind the throne.
1. rs dasai July 14, 2016 at 9:50 am
  
  RL SG
  Is this a similar accusation as with Jagdeo and Ramotar?
2. Pam July 14, 2016 at 12:54 pm
  
  harmon and corbin.
3. 19CAGriffith48 July 14, 2016 at 5:56 pm
  
  “So who is really in charge here .. Joseph Harmon or David Granger ? ”
  
  Let there be no doubt,His Excellency,David A. Granger is Commander-in-Chief, as such, he should relieve Joseph Harmon of his command as he creating much too much consternation among those wishing,hoping and praying for a successful Granger Administration.
Surujpaul Rampersaud July 14, 2016 at 8:37 am

Someone is seeking to score political points. If these contracts were part of the forensic audit, then the auditors should clear up the issue. The final deal should never be state secrets. There seems to be some confusion between preliminary vetting and final deal.
1. rs dasai July 14, 2016 at 9:48 am
  
  SR
  No confusion, only skulduggery.
rs dasai July 14, 2016 at 9:51 am

gw
Is that same ‘dishonesty’ continuing currently?
Emile_Mervin July 14, 2016 at 10:25 am

“Politics is all about serving in the public interest.” – Outgoing British PM David Cameron.

Neither Jagdeo nor Harmon gets it! A left side and right side pair of shoes.
Muhammad Raoof July 14, 2016 at 7:19 pm

I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again. It is so sad that the people of Guyana are still under the illusion that this Collation is there to deal in the opposite manner, opposed to that of the PPP. See my Published letter “The Coalition Govt. is faltering” July 14 2016.

President Grainger is really “clouding and tarnishing” his image by covering up and remaining silent on these matters. The President is either totally under a ROCK, unaware of what’s going on and Harmon is the one wielding the deals?
Or They are all Complacent in these matters????

There has been so much dubious dealings the past year since the Collation took office We get the impression that Grainger is just content in appearing to the Guyanese people as Mr. NICE GUY.. He have to keep lying for a Minister who is under him. OR MAY BE NOT.

Why is Guyana politics so horrible and politicians so dubious? Are we a cursed nation? Guyana will never, ever gonna move forward with the “brand of politicians” we have. Guyana deserve much better