Blacklisted companies receiving contracts

Nov 12, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – What is the use of blacklisting companies in Guyana? Given what was unearthed recently, is there a clear and full understanding of what blacklisting means at the local level? And since, blacklisted companies, at least one did, operate as though nothing prohibitive was in effect against it; why not do away with this charade of blacklisting companies, with big speeches made about rooting out wrongdoing, corruption, and other failures.

There is a consistent answer to all those questions: blacklisting is a joke, and everybody is having a good laugh. That is, the company blacklisted, but still doing business may be the norm, as well as the Government officials who turn a blind eye to what is in place for those blacklisted, and which means one thing only: no business. They are having a good laugh at Guyanese. We wonder what the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) may think, and wish to pronounce, on what occurred in 2021 in Region 9 with one company that it blacklisted being the beneficiary of not one or two contracts, but six of them and for over GY$100M of taxpayers’ money. It was not just Guyana’s PPC that blacklisted V. Dalip Enterprise, but also the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Most alarmingly, the IDB debarred the company due to “Fraudulent and Collusive practices” (“Blacklisted company gets over $106M in contracts by Reg. 9 RDC -AG report flags discrepancy, calls for probe”, KN November 10).

Fraudulent means that the company engaged in some corrupt practice or other. In addition, collusive practices indicate that the company, V. Dalip Enterprise, ensnared others in whatever was deceptive or crooked in the way that it conducted its business. In other words, money was passed, officials and others were compromised, standards likely violated. On the heels of all this, the Auditor General Report is calling for a probe. We agree that is necessary, but it is only the beginning, and can’t end there, with the usual developments of discrepancies exposed and reported, probes recommended, and then nothing happens, because the matter is either buried, or disappears into thin air.

Our position is not complicated. Any genuine probe worth its salt can only come to one conclusion, namely, that some person, some authority, or some group in Region 9 ignored the PPC’s blacklisting order, and pushed ahead with the breach now discovered. Again, not just a failure in the award of one contract, but six of them. In commonsense terms, some official or officials with considerable clout stood over the tender and contract award proceedings that resulted in what the AG uncovered. To bypass the PPC’s blacklisting, as if it didn’t exist, would have required some significant incentives, which usually takes one form primarily. It is hoped that the fallback rationales aren’t emergency works and sole sourcing being the only options. At the end of the day, blacklisting is blacklisting, and there should have been no getting around that condition. In extreme circumstances, higher clearance would have been necessary, if there was willingness for such an appeal to be listened to at all.

We at this paper think that this is a test case to ascertain how serious is all this talk about transparency and accountability and incorruptibility. How this came about, who are the people responsible, and what do they have to say. A legitimate probe should give the facts on all those concerns. Thereafter, the matter would go higher up. We watch and wait to see what follows next. We do not believe that there is anything innocent or excusable about what happened in Region 9 with these six contracts and this blacklisted firm identified by the AG’s report. Once the facts are gathered and documented, those who erred or failed should be made to pay a price. That is, feel the full weight of whatever law or policy is in place. The last thing that should be done is for this matter to be swept under the carpet, and for the PPPC Government to hope that it would fade from the memory of Guyanese, like so many other things. We cannot go on like this. We are either serious about fraud and collusion, or suckers are being made of all Guyanese.

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