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Value for money
Value for money is always a talking point. The government, ever since Bharrat Jagdeo was president of the Co-operative Republic, insisted that it had the people at heart and was ensuring that it got value for money for every cent of the tax dollars that it spent.
At the time the nation was complaining about the slipshod work provided by people contracted by the government to undertake works. These works were either road repairs or actual road construction. Before the intended beneficiaries knew, the works had deteriorated to a condition that was even worse than when the project started.
It was the same with some other constructions. In the end, to prove that it was serious, the government created a situation that was intended to allow the beneficiary community to monitor the works. Of course there was a loophole. When the people monitored the works they had no way of reporting their findings. The system was such that there was no one who could take executive action; people complained to no one and in the end the shoddy work continued.
Of course there was a difference when the media turned its attention to the poorly executed projects. The poor work was there for all to see and more often than not, there was action. The result was that people soon realized that if they wanted to get value for money, all they had to do was to seek the intervention of the media.
However, there were those projects that were larger that the people that anything the wider population could monitor. The Skeldon Modernisation Plant is just one. For starters, the people learnt that they were spending US$200 million, eh most money Guyana ever spent on a project to ensure that the country become competitive in the world of sugar production.
The people were not asked to monitor the construction so they were in no position to determine whether they were getting value for money. There were engineers representing the interest of the state; these were the people who would ensure that the nation got value for money. They failed miserably.
News of the poor work began to surface when workers on site spoke of the trial runs that were disastrous. The nation soon learnt that this modern factory demanded more cane to produce a ton of sugar than the century-old factory that was being mothballed.
Then came news that parts had to be changed even before the factory had gone into operation. Deadlines came and went with no change and suddenly the nation found that it had spent billions of dollars but was not getting what it deserved. The government which had promised value for money had failed to deliver on its promise.
One could argue that the paucity of skilled in the people would always result in the country being unable to demand value for money from those foreign contractors. The people put to monitor the works are either unable to properly assess the project being undertaken or are easily distracted that they lose track of what they are supposed to observe.
Things have reached the stage where even local contractors set out to boost their profit margin and so deny the nation value for money. Some of them argue that corruption is the prime factor for their actions, and not because they are corrupt.
Many are victims of officials who demand money for the award of the contract. This reduces the amount to be spent on the contract and automatically cuts into the profit. The result? It goes without saying.
It is surprising that many of the tall structures that defy the building code have not come crashing down. Indeed, we have seen complete walls of buildings come crashing down.
There is another aspect of the government itself contributing to denying the people value for money. This is done in many ways, not least among them, paying for pharmaceuticals to a favoured importer. Yet we keep hearing about value for money.
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