PPP open to power-sharing with partners it could trust

Aug 13, 2010 News

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– Donald Ramotar

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party Donald Ramotar said that his party has, since 2003, been open to power-sharing as it relates to governing the country, but he emphasized that it is the lack of trust which has caused this to never become a reality.
Ramotar explained that the PPP can only partner with political parties that it could trust, and the opposition have consistently said as well as done different things, consequently, the PPP did not partner with them. He said that it would be to the detriment of the nation should his party place power in the hands of people who would abuse it.

The General Secretary stressed that his party has not seen the kind of fundamental changes in the opposition parties to engage them at present should there be any talks of power-sharing following the 2011 General Elections. He added that what he would like to see is increased inclusivity between the political forces.
Ramotar was at the time responding to statements made by Executive Member of the Working People’s Alliance Dr David Hinds who at a recent forum on coalition opined that the ideal situation would be power-sharing.
Dr. Hinds was also adamant that the exclusion of the People’s Progressive Party was not an option, in that they must play a role in the country moving forward.
Ramotar said that ever since 2003, he and President Jagdeo had presented a booklet at State House during a press meet and had outlined their ideas on power-sharing.
Following the outcome of the 2006 elections, People’s National Congress Reform Leader, Robert Corbin, had repeated the call for power-sharing. Corbin said the election results “proved to be an ethnic census” in that the PNC gets its main support from the country’s African descendants while the ruling PPP is dominated by Guyanese of East Indian descent.
The PPP received alomst 55 percent of the votes from the August 28 election, picking up two additional seats in parliament.
The PNC won 34 percent of the vote, losing six parliamentary seats, while another opposition party, the Alliance For Change, won five seats.

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T&HD may fall short for repairs to ferries

…tenders issued at almost twice budgeted amount

One hundred million dollars may not be enough for the Transport and Harbours Department to dock and supply the MV Malali with spares if the tenders for the project are anything to go by.
According to the Budget Estimates for 2010, the sum of $100M was allotted to the Ministry of Public Works under the heading “Reconditioning of Ferry Vessels”. According to the budget, the project entails: the “Docking of M.V. Malali” and the “Acquisition of spares”.
Yet most of the bids opened last Tuesday morning by the members of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board for that project are almost double that figure just for the acquisition of the spares.  Bids were called for in five lots of equipment.
Machinery Corporation (MACORP) only bid on three of the five lots to provide equipment, and their total figure was some $42M while there were still two more lots of equipment to be supplied as well as the docking and repair project to be considered.
Meanwhile, Branco Shipping and Trading Ltd, offered a tender to supply the five lots of spare parts with a total amount that came to USD$1.098M. Converted to Guyana dollars, the total amount bid by Branco was $226.2M, more than double that allocated in the budget for both parts of the project.
JAPARTS also tendered a bid to supply the five lots of parts and equipment; their total figure came to some $148M, one-and-a-half times more than budgeted for the project by the Department. It should be noted that these figures are just to supply parts and do not include the dry-docking of the ferry.
To dock and repair the ferry, the only bidder was the Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) Inc. which tendered a bid of $7.87M to undertake that contract.
According to Kevin Trim, General Manager of the Transport and Harbours Department, the vessels are required to dry-dock for general maintenance and repairs at least every two years. The MV Malali, which covers the Parika-Adventure route, has not been dry-docked for at least seven years for general maintenance. According to Trim, there has only been one docking for the vessel in that time and that was to effect emergency repairs on its propulsion system (propellers and propeller shaft).
Repairing the ferries is costing the country millions of dollars each year, as numerous parts have to be replaced in the aging vessels.  According to Trim, the ferries are each more than 70 years old.  He pointed out that the MV Barima and the MV Northcote were released from the Ferguson Brothers Shipyard in Glasgow in the year 1937. Earlier in the year, Mr. Trim told this newspaper what the repairs entail for these vessels. He pointed out that they would need to acquire engine parts, pump systems and even work towards modifying local hydraulic systems to fit the vessels.
The Department spends each year juggling its aging fleet of vehicles between service and constant repairs.  Meanwhile they have been seeing serious drops in revenues as a result of the discontinuation of ferry service across the Berbice River with the advent of the Berbice Bridge.

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