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Berbice contractor complains… Liverpool road project awarded to highest bidder
Peter Lewis, of Associated Construction Services in Berbice, is calling for a probe to be launched into the awarding of a particular contract in Berbice by the central tender board.
According to Lewis, the Liverpool Road Project had four Berbice contractors tendering at a low price.
However, surprisingly, a contractor from Georgetown with the highest bid was handed the project.
Lewis said that he and three other Berbice contractors tendered for the Liverpool road project last. One tendered $40 M, a contractor from New Amsterdam tendering at $41 M, and Lewis $43 M. The fourth Berbice contractor submitted a bid for $44 M. However the contractor from Georgetown who tendered at $48 M was given the green light.
“They didn’t give any of the four but they give the man who is $48 M and he is from Georgetown. This has been going on for the past two years now. The Berbice contractors just get shut out and them giving people with higher price to compensate them coming to Berbice and work,” he stated.
Lewis is calling on President David Granger to deal with the matter since “I am a decent honest man and I know if he get wrongdoing he would take action”. He also said that the awarding of contracts for the interior roads ought to be investigated.
He claimed that the contractors are not qualified and are given “massive contracts”. Lewis detailed that one of the contractors working on a road currently in the interior is without a motor blader machine while he has more than four sitting parked in the company compound.
Contractor- Peter Lewis
He revealed that the quantity on the respective project is increased by Ministry of Public Infrastructure “to mislead other contractors”.
Lewis confirmed that he has written the Office of the President lobbying for a probe to be launched into the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
He received a reply from OP saying, “We dispatch your letter to the various agencies for investigation, something of that sort. How can you investigate who is in the wrong doing”.
Regional Chairman David Armogan, speaking to Kaieteur News via phone, stated that it has always been a concern for the region when contracts are awarded to contractors from out of the region. He noted that it is taking away employment opportunities from the region.
Armogan said he was informed of the issue by another Berbice contractor yesterday and has signaled his support in calling for an investigation to be launched.
Prime Minister Representative Region Six, Gobin Harbhajan, told this publication that he was made aware of the issue via social media and has since promised to raise the issue with the Prime Minister.
He also agreed that if the allegations “are true” then he agrees that employment opportunities should not be taken away from the region by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
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