Govt. yet to receive $72M worth of mobile scales that were procured in 2016

Jan 21, 2021 News

– Public Works’ PS says supplier unreachable

The PAC meeting in progress on Tuesday.

Kaieteur News – Members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), during a meeting, were on Tuesday told that three mobile scales costing some $72.2M that were procured in 2016 are yet to be received by Government.
The PAC had met with officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Public Works and Natural Resources to begin the consideration of Guyana’s public accounts for the fiscal year of 2016.
During the meeting, Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Public Works Ministry, Vladmin Persaud, revealed that the Jamaican Company, NevPro Realization Limited, which was awarded the contract to supply the scales, has been unreachable.
Kaieteur News was told in January 2020 that the procurement of the mobile scales was an initiative of the then Coalition Government to reduce the damage of Guyana’s main public roads by heavy-duty vehicles.
Speaking with this newspaper at the time was the then Junior Minister of Public Infrastructure, Jaipaul Sharma, who explained that his Government planned to place the scales at major entrances to Georgetown. Sharma had named Berbice, Parika and Linden as points for the scales. He had added too that the initiative was catered for in the 2020 annual budget.
According to the current PS Persaud, out of the three scales procured, only two were shipped by the company and these are still at the Laparkan Storage Bond.
Persaud added that a cost for the storage of the scales will be submitted to the Ministry next week since they have not been officially handed over as yet.
With regards to the third scale, the Public Works PS stated that, “We have tried several times to make contact with the supplier. We are unable to make any contact with the company. It seems as though they have come off the face of the earth. We can’t find any information of the company.”
Persaud went on to inform the PAC members that the Attorney General will be engaged in the matter. In fact, he said that a letter has already been prepared and will be sent to the Attorney General.
He added too that a letter will also be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for assistance in reaching the company.
Meanwhile, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Ms. Gail Teixeira, who was present at the meeting, condemned the then Ministry of Public Infrastructure because of how it dealt with the matter.
Teixiera stated, “I am amazed that one: there has been no disciplinary action taken against anybody in the Ministry; there has been no calling in of anybody to investigate, even the police. There has been no lawyer’s letter… I can’t understand a Ministry being so indulgent.”