Cabinet was aware in 2017 that $85M in textbook contracts went to Trini printers - local supplier had complained

Cabinet was aware in 2017 that $85M in textbook contracts went to Trini printers – local supplier had complained

May 30, 2019 News

There is evidence now that since 2017, the award of textbook contracts to overseas printers came with full support of the Cabinet.
According to documents seen by Kaieteur News, in August 2017, the Cabinet of the Coalition Government “noted” the recommendations of the National Procurement and Tender A

President David Granger

dministration Board (NPTAB) involving four contracts for printing of textbooks.
In total, the contracts were $101,142,014.
Cabinet, from the documents, “noted” the awarding of two contracts to Trinidad’s Eniath Printing Company Limited – one for $73.3M and another for $11.4M. The other company that benefitted from the textbook contracts was a local one – A-1 Print Shop. That company received over $16M in work.
This disclosure of Cabinet knowing that printing work for textbooks is going overseas would bolster arguments by local printers that all is not well in their business.
The local printers wants a bigger slice in government contracts, which they say have been reduced significantly in recent years, due to their being handed arbitrarily to the state-owned Guyana National Printers Limited (GNPL).
That state company, in turn, has sub-contracted a significant portion of the work to other companies without any clear idea by Guyana whether competitive prices were being paid.

Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry

It is now being investigated by state auditors because of the questionable contracts to overseas companies by GNPL.
Local printers have complained bitterly of being sidelined with no tenders advertised for the printing of text and exercise books since 2017. They want government or the Ministry of Education to insert “domestic” clauses in the tenders, which will allow only local printers to bid.
The local printers insist they have capacity and can match prices.

GNPL’s General Manager, Trevor Bassoo

While the Ministry of Education has been forced to turn to overseas publishers with copyright to their books for fresh supplies, there are several local textbooks, which can be done right in Guyana.
Over the years, local printers had been getting a bite. That was, until 2017.
It is not chump change that is involved. Rather, this year alone almost $600M has been allocated for the printing of text and exercise books by Government.
GNPL is under fire as printers are claiming that the state company bypassed them and went to Trinidad – Eniath Printery – to order exercise books.
Local printers have insisted that they are being made to submit all kinds of documents and penalised and accused of poor quality work when it is highly impossible to verify the quality of what is being delivered from overseas.
Over the years, the ordering of text and exercise books has been under scrutiny, because not only could state auditors not properly verify what was delivered, but there was evidence of poor storage and distribution.
The books are distributed from the nursery to secondary levels to the scores of schools run by government across the country. State auditors, as part of the ongoing probe, were up to last week checking records at the Ministry of Education’s Book Distribution Unit.