President’s treatment of ministers and PSs a show of “tough love”- Jagdeo

Nov 17, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News-Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday defended President Irfaan Ali’s treatment of ministers, permanent secretaries (PS), engineers, and contractors, describing it as a form of “tough love” aimed at improving government’s performance on public infrastructure projects.

Jagdeo’s comments came in response to criticism from the People’se National Congress Reform (PNCR) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) regarding the President’s public reprimand of his ministers, their permanent secretaries and contractors for delays and poor oversight of government projects.

At his weekly press conference held at Freedom House located on Robb Street, Georgetown, Jagdeo refuted the opposition’s remarks suggesting that the ministers are incompetent and failed to plan.

“We are… this is [the] most competent government that has moved the needle all the way to the other end from incompetence. So now you have vibrancy…competence has been demonstrated in every ministry. You see every minister going through their programs and we have competent ministers and competent permanent secretaries,” Jagdeo said.

Further, Jagdeo assured that the President is in full control of his administration. “The president is fully in control, we’re in control, and we are so much in control that we are not only focusing on the 95% that’s done. We want to ensure that this group, that the ones that are not done on time, that they too are done in time, based on what we hear from the people, with the complaints that we get.”

The Vice President said that the President was responding to a “long list” of complaints by residents expressing frustration about the state of projects that have started but yet to be completed.

Jagdeo emphasized that the President’s meeting with the public officials and contractors was not a sign of dysfunction, but rather an expression of the government’s commitment to follow through on its promises.

“What the president was doing is [addressing] a long list of people who have sent complaints—’Oh, we see the road awarded, they dug up the road, but nothing is happening,'” he said.

“The three things they are trying to make it look like, ‘Oh, we’re not in control’—we are really in control, that’s why the President could have had that meeting. It’s not a reflection what was done there on the government.  If you were to go into their (Ministers) meetings you will see how much they push their staff too and if you hear about the private engagements we have, but this is called tough love, that how we work, it’s tough love,” the Vice President said.

Jagdeo concluded by reaffirming the government’s confidence in its ministers. “There’s no day light between the ministers and the President. We believe in our ministers and their competence. It’s just tough love… We do this because there are a ton of people out there who depend on us,” he said.

On Tuesday, President Ali summoned contractors who were at least four months behind schedule on government projects to a 5:30 a.m. meeting at State House. The meeting, which was also attended by all subject ministers, their permanent secretaries, and engineers, was streamed live on the President’s Facebook page and other social media platforms.

During the meeting, the contractors were publicly scolded, with some being locked out of the President’s residence for arriving late. The live broadcast of the meeting attracted significant attention, with at least 145,000 viewers. Ministers, engineers, and other officials were also reprimanded for their poor oversight of public infrastructure projects.

President Ali singled out each ministry, instructing ministers, permanent secretaries, and engineers to stand as he named each contractor responsible for delayed projects. The live broadcast allowed the public to witness the harsh exchange in real-time, drawing both support and criticism.

The AFC criticized the meeting, claiming that the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), along with the pool of evaluators, had been widely criticized for recommending questionable contractors. The party argued that arbitrary evaluation criteria were being used to determine contract awards, and in some instances, the lowest evaluated bidders were not recommended for contracts.

The PNCR also expressed concern over the public nature of the meeting. The party said that with great alarm Guyanese watched the live-streamed meeting hosted by President Ali that included government ministers, permanent secretaries, engineers, contractors, and consultants. The PNCR said that the President summoned the officials to vent his frustration over the large number of incomplete and stalled projects across the government ministries.  According to the party, instead of analyzing the root causes of the problem and proposing solutions, President Ali chose to launch a disgraceful barrage of insults, put-downs, and threats against public servants who are least to be blamed for the government’s inability to plan and manage effectively.

(President’s treatment of ministers and PSs a show of “tough love”- Jagdeo)

(President’s treatment of ministers)

 

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• embarrassed ministers, meeting, President Ali, tough love

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