Procurement symposium…Private sector urges better-worded contracts to ensure work quality

May 31, 2013 News

The private sector yesterday called for stronger government procurement contracts to ensure that Guyana gets its money’s worth on projects.

Contractors and other stakeholders at the symposium yesterday.

The proposition was made yesterday by Ramesh Dookhoo, former Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), during the annual Procurement Symposium at the Guyana International Convention Centre.
According to the business executive, one of the ways that contracts can be better protected would be for it to be improved in wording. He suggested that there is a need for trained contract writers whose work will ultimately lead to improvements on what is being delivered by contractors.
With government and opposition at war over the quality of work from contractors and the entire procurement system, there have criticisms that contractors involved in infrastructural works have been “getting away with murder” as there are not enough safeguards for the client – in this case the government.
Kokers and bridges collapsing and badly constructed roads are among the many examples. There have also been accusations of contractors collaborating with the government supervisors to cut corners in some cases. Ultimately, it was the taxpayers who lost out.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the symposium was aimed at providing information about procurement, its laws, regulations and procedures.
Dookhoo said that government contracts account for 20% of the country’s economy.
He opined that Guyana has a model procurement process that is recognized overseas.
Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Juan Edghill, in his presentation, said that the private sector businesses are developmental partners of the country with contractors and service providers playing a critical role.
Edghill asserted that government is getting “value for their money”, with his job being to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent wisely and that quality work is produced.
The Minister noted that government contracts to the tune of $90B, are available for contractors to “compete”.
“Guyana has the most modern procurement act in the world,” Edghill said.
He also called for the setting up of the Public Procurement Commission, saying that many citizens were “fooled” that the Opposition had initiated it. Rather, he said, it was the previous PPP/C administration, which had the two-thirds majority at that time which made the provisions for the Commission with new procurement laws.
The Minister said that for the Commission to be launched, it would need a vote in the National Assembly of more than two-thirds. “We should stop the political dialogue and try to look for ways to better this nation.”