Two years after approval of US $17.5M loan… Selection of contractors stalls modernisation of regional hospitals

Nov 07, 2019 News

Some two years after the Indian Government committed to providing a US $17.5M loan for the modernization of three regional hospitals in Guyana, the selection of the contractors to do the work appears to have stalled the process.
Officials close to the project have confirmed that the loan which was approved for the modernisation of the Suddie, West Demerara Regional and Bartica hospitals in July 2017 has met with some administrative roadblocks.
A crucial part of the loan approved by the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of India is that contractors from that loan country must be selected to do the work.
Kaieteur News understands however that the administrative procedure of selecting the contractors is taking some added time.
“This is because we want to ensure that the bidding process is open and transparent and conducted in a fair manner. At this time, the selection is not quite in its final stages,” a source close to the project told Kaieteur News yesterday.
Speaking on the selection process, the source explained that similar to Guyana, the Indian Government advertises for bidders of the project in the local newspapers, via official websites.
“Once the suitable qualifying contractors submit their proposal and are selected, they will be shortlisted and forwarded to the Government of Guyana to proceed with the local procurement process.
But before all of this can be done, the source said the India EXIM Bank, which is the loan agency involved in the process, must deem the contractors suitable for the intended project.
The source added that “the India EXIM Bank has the final say.”
“And in some instances the bank prequalifies some companies that have shown that they have the capacity to handle the big contracts.”
Back in July 2017, Finance Minister Winston Jordan signed the US$17.5 million line of credit (LOC) with the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of India to refurbish existing facilities and construct new buildings at the Suddie Hospital in Region Two, the West Demerara Regional Hospital in Region Three and the Bartica District Hospital in Region Seven.
This project is an initiative of the coalition Government, which wanted to use funds set aside for the controversial Specialty Hospital Project for the modernisation of the three primary healthcare institutions.
As part of the modernisation project, the three health facilities were supposed to get medical equipment to furnish the new facilities.
The Suddie Regional Hospital is slated to receive almost US$8 million for the construction of a new ambulatory and inpatient centre and diagnostic care facility. More than US$4.5 million would be used for the same purpose at West Demerara Regional Hospital.
Furthermore, the Bartica District Hospital is expected to receive about US$3 million for the expansion of the existing building along with the construction of a number of new structures in the compound. However since the Indian Government is funding the project, it is required that the contracts be awarded to companies from that country.
With the process at a standstill, the Ministry of Public Health has nevertheless committed to commence works particularly on the Bartica Hospital.
In the meantime, the Ministry was also expecting the Indian consultants to oversee the multimillion-dollar upgrade of three primary healthcare facilities.

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Two years after approval of US $17.5M loan… Selection of contractors stalls modernisation of regional hospitals

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