The silence is deafening

Dec 08, 2012 Editorial

The situation involving the Amaila Falls road project seems to be more frustrating than anything else. In the first instance there is precious little word on the project. The planned media tour of the road is still to take place. Indeed, the government made a lot about the road in the early stage of the project. The nation was not informed about the award of the contract until after it was done but there was a press conference subsequent to the fact.
The press conference was more about damage control because the government had been criticized for the secret manner in which it handles projects. The nation was not informed about the contract although the government said that notices were published.
Needless to say, the award of the contract was tantamount to a waste of public funds. The contractor was not known for his ability to construct any road, anywhere. In this case the government was asking him to construct a road in the hinterland, part of which would be through virgin forest. It was also offering the contractor every available support.
There was the issue of the performance bond which an insurance company provided. As far as the government was concerned due diligence was not an issue. Then there was the rush to hide the importation of the equipment that the contractor was importing. Most of the equipment is nothing but scrap and actually answers the questions about the incestuous relationship between the government and the contractor.
That contract has since been rescinded and awarded to a number of local contractors, some of whom have actually built roads but none of this nature. The nation is still left to wonder about the seriousness of the government when it comes to projects. Accusations of pandering to political liaison abound. Instead of pursuing professional work, the government seems to be too busy rewarding political support instead.
The result is that a project that is this country’s largest investment is being sacrificed at the altar of political expediency. Meanwhile, the government is sweating silently because it is afraid of further criticisms of its approach to the establishment of a hydroelectric facility in Guyana. We know that the deadline for the completion has been pushed back at least four times to the point where the actual completion is now open ended.
At the same time, there is the question of accessing the money. The nation was led to believe that funding was a foregone conclusion. To date, neither the Chinese nor the Inter American Development Bank has released any funding for the project. The government has not seen it fit to tell the nation what is really going on.
This is not the only case of official silence. The project involving the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport runway and reconstruction of the terminal building is reportedly underway but from the look of things, nothing is happening. There is no mobilization of labour and certainly no mobilization of equipment for the project.
Then there is the Marriott project. Casually, the media found out that work has already started but there has also been a wall of silence. There is the saying that when no information is available people speculate. While there have not yet been speculations, it is only a matter of time before people begin to wonder whether they would be saddled with money in the ground and nothing to show for it.
It has not escaped notice that there have been no reports on the progress of many projects. When the government expended record sums on the Skeldon Sugar factory the nation was kept in the dark about the true cost of the project. This is still the case. But what places this factory in the same category of the projects now being undertaken is the fact that despite its construction there was not the supporting infrastructure to make it a success. Enough cane is not being planted so the project is a virtual white elephant.
And the government still refuses to take the nation into its confidence so that difficult situations become easier to appreciate.

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The silence is deafening

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