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Jagdeo slams shoddy management of public works projects
—says “they don’t think about the thousands of people who are discomforted every day,”
Kaieteur News – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Public Works’ management of construction sites, citing the lack of order and the inconvenience caused to citizens.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo
The Vice President made these remarks on the first day of the 2025 Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo. Jagdeo noted that upon returning to Guyana, he immediately raised concerns in a Cabinet group chat about the state of the country’s road construction projects.
“I came back yesterday from abroad, and from the time I came down the East Bank road, I posted in the Cabinet group my dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Public Works. They are not managing these sites well. There are people all around you know, just they don’t think about the thousands of people who are discomforted every day,” he said. Public Works Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill was in the audience at the time Jagdeo made the remarks.
According to the Vice President, the issue is not just about ongoing projects but also the lack of coordination among various agencies involved in infrastructure development. “They just go and take things up everywhere. And so, I see the minister here, and I was really angry. The President got on their case last week. It’s like everywhere, I know we’re building lots of things at the same time. We have to do it, and it’s causing discomfort. But for Christ’s sake, just let’s do it with some order,” Jagdeo stressed.
He lamented the recurring issue of newly paved roads being dug up soon after by other agencies like the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) disrupting progress and frustrating citizens. “You can’t express the amount of frustration that we express every day with these guys. They dig up a road that says, we just paved a road. They come, and then GWI will come and dig up the road again,” he said. Jagdeo indicated that if regulations could help improve the situation, the government would take necessary action. “So, if regulation will help tomorrow, then I’m doing all the regulations. We do every bit of regulation,” he said.
Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill
On the topic of quality control in construction, he acknowledged the importance of addressing corruption and inefficiencies. “Yeah, so that is precisely why we made those amendments. Now, we have a debate going on in our society…they said that we must not spend on infrastructure,” he said. He rejected the notion that infrastructure spending does not benefit the public and pointed to past economic policies that he believes contributed to Guyana’s poverty.
The Vice President further emphasised that proper infrastructure investment is crucial for national development. “So, there is a group who says in Guyana, ‘Oh, share out all of the oil money. You can’t eat infrastructure.’ But that’s short sighted. You have to build the power plants, you have to build the ports, you have to build highways, you have to build the health facilities or the schools so that you can prepare for the future. And so, that’s where the money is spent,” he said.
While acknowledging that there is room for improvement in the construction sector, Jagdeo reiterated that corruption remains a challenge the government is actively addressing.
“I agree that sometimes we can improve on the construction, on the construction, and if the regulations would help with that, but often it’s people you deal with. And we’ve been public about corruption in Guyana. We have not we said, here is some of, or here’s some of the things that have happened. We have seen multiple companies,” he said.
(Jagdeo slams shoddy management of public works projects)
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