Latest update May 28th, 2026 12:34 AM
Jun 28, 2013 News
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is not buying Government’s excuse that it cannot legally terminate all State contracts from Strategic Action Security following the alleged discovery of stolen items at the firm’s Queenstown head office.
APNU Member of Parliament Christopher Jones said that recent statements by Attorney General Anil Nandlall and Junior Finance Minister Juan Edghill convey that Government does not have the ability to terminate the contracts.
However, according to Jones, Government’s standard bidding documents for the procurement of security services lists a number of circumstances under which a contract could be terminated including, “The Service provider does not maintain a security which is required and …the Procuring Entity may, by written notice, terminate the contract for convenience”.
Recently, millions of dollars worth of suspected stolen items, including several laptops linked to Government’s One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) programme, were retrieved from the firm’s Queenstown office during a police raid. Over 100 of the OLPF laptops disappeared last August from the project’s Queenstown, Georgetown office. The owner of the security firm was taken into police custody and released on bail.
“It is an acceptable argument by Government that the Constitution provides for a person to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in relation to the firm’s owner, but, Government needs to understand that Strategic Action Security, which has won 90 percent of the contracts to secure state buildings, has been discredited as a security firm due to the fact that stolen items were found on its premises.
“This firm was securing the same OLPF building when the OLPF laptops went missing. Moreover, this firm was also securing the Ministry of Health building when the equipment with MOH logo went missing. This is not coincidence that the items landed at the firm’s head office.”
“Now on the West Demerara residents are being asked to go to La Grange Police Station to identify if items belonging to them that were stolen are among the loot removed from the firm’s building,” Jones said.
He added that another troubling aspect of this scenario is that Senior Government officials are being fingered as having interests in the firm. Jones stressed that President Donald Ramotar needs to prove himself a good leader and do the right thing by pulling the contracts.
According to a source, one Government Ministry said it would not grant a contract to the firm.
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.