The days of favours are over

Jan 14, 2012 Editorial

It would seem that the haphazard manner in which some people approached the task of producing for the country is changing if it is not already changed. Some of the things that caused people to whisper about governmental incompetence and about the misuse of public funds on contracts were the way in which people flaunted their newfound riches and boast that they were untouchable.
Indeed. There were people who accepted bids for government projects and would tarry over completing them. People would complain and the very government who wanted the project to be completed would make excuses for the contractor.
We saw contractors undertaking works that deteriorated almost as soon as they were finished. When the community questioned these contractors some would say that the very people did not pay them when the truth was something else.
Many of these contractors did not deign to pay taxes and others were happy to start projects and leave them unfinished unless the government was prepared to meet what they all called cost overruns. Now that is all in the past.
People had become too comfortable because there was not too much focus on accountability. The Auditor General would produce his reports and he kept repeating the same conclusions year after year. He spoke of these unfinished contracts, of people being overpaid and the responsible department being recalcitrant in pursuing the overpayment.
Some of the guilty used the political umbrella and because of the nature of the society others believed that the political party did offer protection. What they did not recognize was that they were actually condoning the irregularity because there were people who were prepared to take action. It must be that some beliefs are pervasive because for the most part, nothing untoward happened to the dishonest contractors.
Less than two months after the elections and there have been significant changes in the way people perceive they can do business with the government. The nation saw the Guyana Revenue Authority going after a major contractor for overdue taxes. The amount is substantial and one wonders what had been happening in the past. Was the contractor allowed to believe that he was tax exempt?
But the biggest surprise came when the government pulled the contract from Synergy Holdings Inc. This had won the tender for the construction of the road leading to the site for the hydroelectric project. There were questions from the inception. There was no record that the contractor had ever undertaken road construction.
The contractor later said that he built roads on his own property. The fact that with such a limited background this contractor was able to win the award of a contract tells a whole story. Questions about the government performing due diligence were brushed aside. Instead, the state represented by the Finance Minister and by the head of the country’s Privatization Unit said that it was not Guyana’s responsibility but that of the person giving the Performance Bond. We did not agree because it was our money.
We kept complaining, even pointing to the pedantic rate of road construction. We asked to visit the site but while the promise was made it was never fulfilled. After the government cancelled the contract, Fip Motilall claimed that the government prevented him from taking the reporters along the road he was constructing.
But what is mindboggling is the haste with which the decision-makers rushed to justify the award of the contract. The media pointed to every shortcoming on the part of the contractor but it was like spitting into the wind. We had no impact.
The nation lost hundreds of millions of dollars and we are certain that the election of the new president led to this development that would actually protect the nation. Guyana lost tax revenue on the vehicles that contractor Makeshwar Fip Motilall imported.
We were aware that the government was cajoling the contractor to finish the job. It was as if he was the preferred candidate. The government went so far as to offer Motilall support by way of subcontractors. People had every reason to believe that the contractor was favoured.
The days of favours are over.

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