Having a ‘vested inherent interest’ is not enough Mr. Minister

Aug 20, 2010 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I read with utter disbelieve, the response to questions posed to Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn while speaking to media representatives at the OMAI Linden Wharf, touting the arrival of the road construction equipment to build the access road for the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project.
Mr. Editor, I commend the courage of the Kaieteur News reporter who did precisely what a responsibly journalist was expected to do. Ask the tough questions. The article I refer to: “We have sufficient information that this contractor is suitable – Minister Benn tells media” (Kaieteur News August 19) was most remarkable in that it was very clear the Minister was most uncomfortable with the line of questioning, and could not specify the “sufficient information” that convinced him Makeshwar Fip Motilall was indeed “suitable” for this job.
In his effort to say nothing, or simply to evade answering the questions, the Minister came across as being misinformed and unbecoming of the position he holds.
Despite the brilliant investigative reporting done by Kaieteur News that exposed Mr. Makeshwar Fip Motilall as an opportunist with absolutely no road-building experience, the Jagdeo Administration has stubbornly refused to rescind his contract on grounds that Motilall either lied, or failed to provide credible information of similar large-scale projects that he did, and also failed to comply with other provisions of the contract by not having the equipment and technical personnel to build this road. Why then is this Administration so adamant that Motilall is “suitable” to undertake this massive project contrary to all evidence? The answer may be found in who’s getting a payoff to turn a blind eye to this scandal that will cost the taxpayers billions of dollars.
In an attempt to distance himself from all of this, President Bharrat Jagdeo is famous for saying that he was not responsibly for awarding Motilall the contract, that it was the evaluation team of technical financial analysts and engineers who determined that Motilall has the necessary expertise to undertake the project.
But even if this was true, as Head of State, President Jagdeo has a moral obligation to ensure that Motilall was indeed appropriately qualified with all the necessary expertise and experience to undertake the most ambitious project of all of his predecessors.
In the Kaieteur News article, Minister Benn is quoted as saying, “Of all the persons who submitted an interest in building the road, and you ask a specific question of what is the other advantage (other than the lowest bid) in respect of doing the road, I am saying clearly the one who has the vested inherent interest and who has the most information on the ground…is that company…. I am telling you that Synergy Holding is the contractor for the building of this road… we have committed to that and we will do everything through our ministry to ensure he builds the road to the specifications and quality that is required.”
Well I’m sorry Minister Benn, but having a “vested interest” is not enough; Synergy Holdings and Fip Motilall was required to have experience, appropriate equipment, staff and adequate finance to qualify for this contract… clearly, these were not the criteria he was looking for.
In an effort to further
justify giving Synergy and Fip Motilall the contract, Senior Engineer Willis also explained that in Guyana the owner of the company did not necessarily need to be an engineer but can meet the criterion through his employees.
It must be noted however, that at the time this contract was awarded, Fip Motilall and Synergy had no employees apart from family members, and certainly none that were engineers.
As an economist, President Jagdeo should know that a sure way to keep the cost down in any business transaction is to eliminate the middleman. Motilall is a middleman; he has to make a profit as well as the engineering company he will hopefully employ to do the job. And because of his lack of experience, government engineers will be tied up overseeing the successful outcome of this project at the detriment of others, and nobody’s counting the cost of that.
I hope the opposition is at least making notes of all the cover-ups by members of the ruling party, but it would be  preferred if they take the fight to them, protecting the rights of the Guyanese people, and not leave it up to Kaieteur News and SN to pave the way for their  glorious victory next year.
Harry Gill

The future of Guyana and West Indies cricket

Dear Editor,
The followers of West Indies cricket should be very sad and despondent with its state of affairs, especially at this juncture. It would seem as though no series or tournament would pass without a conflict between the players, so call representative, WIPA and the local or West Indies Cricket Board.
I was following the WICB T-20 tournament very closely, as a Guyanese, I can honestly say, although my heart and soul were with the team; I never give them a chance of winning the tournament. However, I am excited to say, I am very happy that they prove me wrong and am proud to be a Guyanese. They emerge as the champions and will be representing the West Indies in South Africa; hopefully, they will make us proud once again.
Many Guyanese will be very happy, as I am for the team, not only for them emerging as  champions in the T-20 tournament, but also because of what’s at stake for the players in the upcoming tournament.
However I am very disappointed with the whole scenario between the players’ representative (WIPA), the GCB and WICB. Since this issue had tremendous coverage by the worldwide media, I would not bother to reiterate what had transpired.
I will be the first person to say that cricket is a business first and a sport second; therefore players need to get the maximum returns for their efforts. But these players need to also understand, that it cost tremendous amounts of money to build and upkeep facilities for them to utilize in order to develop their talent. Also the cricket boards, often times organise tournaments without sponsorship funds, in which the players participate free of charge.
Guyana is arguably the poorest country or territory in the West Indies and therefore, the local businesses has very little funds available to plow into the sport. The local cricket board needs funds to offset its expenditures and hence, I see no problem with the GCB taking a part of the prize money and tournament fees.
Without finance no one can survive, even the boards who administer the sports, so if the board does not get the finance needed, there will be no cricket facilities, tournaments, representations and eventually the game of cricket will die a slow death. Although I am tempted to say that the game is already dying in the West Indies.
It would seem as though these players are being mislead by certain senior individuals in the team, and as such they are not looking at the big picture.
The Guyana team has majority youngsters, who could have very bright futures in the game and have tremendous income earning potential, if they operate prudently.
However, there are some who are on their way out, thus looking to maximize their earnings, at the determent of others players and the game as a whole.
In closing, although we won a tournament, it is my opinion, cricket in Guyana and the West Indies are at a low, hopefully the lowest. I do hope good sense prevails and the team is able to compete in South Africa and is successful.
I also wish the haggling between the WIPA and the local boards or WICB ceases immediately.
We should all hope that Guyana and West Indies cricket can make a turn for the better, and the worst has already past.
Johnny Sanasie

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