No consistency in going after delinquent contractors

Feb 18, 2021 Letters

Dear Editor,

It appears that the current administration is politically selective in its enforcement of contractual rules. There is no consistency or uniformity in bringing down the hammer on government hired engineers or professionals and or contractors. The persecution and or prosecution of engineers and contractors is not executed on a level playing field across the board, especially for those who were in cahoots with the previous administration. Some are targeted for punishment while others escape unpunished.
This administration goes after some contractors and engineers, while others are left unscathed. Politics and contract tax are the determinants in who faces government ire and ultimately the axe. Regrettably, it was also so under the previous regime. Clearly, change in administration does not mean change in policy. Bad governance and lack of accountability continue. On mal-administration, both sides behave almost the same.
Justice can be bought at the right contract tax. Those who were too politically involved with the last regime are being taken to court, while those willing to pay the right “contract fees” escape punishment. Some who were guilty as any other scoundrel under the previous regime have been embraced by the current administration while others are left to hang.
As an illustration, the contractors for the shoddy COVID-19 hospital and several other projects that are still to be delivered are not punished. Several contractors or conmen received payments for work not done or for incomplete projects. They are now embraced and are untouched, because they make restitution with fees, while others are being sued for similar contractual malpractices. A big contractor is being sued for a wharf because of his political financial association with the predecessor regime; that contractor was with the biggest financier of the current regime before the change in administration in 2015. Other contractors who supported the previous regime are not sued because they opportunistically now embrace the current administration and pay their contractor fees. You pay to play.
Similarly, some professionals are sent home for having aided in the passage of monies through contracts (real or fictitious) to politicians and political parties. Government picks and chooses which engineer to send home and how to exploit them. For instance, one very senior engineer in the NDIA has been kept on month to month contract for facilitating huge over payments to a mechanical and civil works contractor at Bush Lot, Corentyne. The proceeds were used to help finance a small party that teamed up with a big party. The said contractor was seen hosting the small party’s executives at lavish parties at his premises at Bush Lot. That contractor was persona non grata by this administration when it was in opposition. But the contractor is now fully embraced by the new administration because he pays to play while the engineer is left to dry out. That is the nature of our politics. How low it has sunk because of greed of political leaders!
Related to above, the service of some engineers or other professionals were/are terminated for turning a blind eye to situations over which they had/have no control given the depth of corruption under previous administration. If they didn’t facilitate corruption, they lost their “wuk.” Nothing has changed from then to now.
While all malpractices must be addressed and the culprits brought to justice, this must be done on a level playing field to foster trust in the government in dispensing justice fairly regardless of political affiliation or amount of contract fees paid.
Yours truly,
Nigel P Blake

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