Latest update March 27th, 2026 12:40 AM
‘Govt. targets newspapers’ …signals move to shift tender ads to new digital procurement portal
…Jagdeo says state paying close to $800M annually on advertisements
(Kaieteur News) – The government is set to sharply reduce advertising in newspapers as it prepares to launch a new national procurement website next year, saying that “the days of people having to buy a newspaper to check for tender ads will soon be over.”
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo made the announcement on Thursday at his weekly news conference during which he said that the new digital platform will replace the long-standing system of publishing tender notices primarily in newspapers- a practice he said currently costs the state close to $800M annually.
There have been instances in the past where the VP had suggested that online media entities should be able to benefit from government advertisements, especially when his government had been called out for late payments to newspapers. On Thursday Jagdeo told reporters that the first reform the government will be pursuing aggressively is to improve procurement in the country, in keeping with President Irfaan Ali’s promise in his inaugural speech. “He said I’m going to improve procurement in the country. So, we want to make procurement fairer; we want the procurement to have certain carveouts for people, small contractors so that more of them could be brought into the core of contractors,” the VP said.
He stressed that the government wants better quality of work and a way more transparent tendering system, and has begun work on the agenda. In this regard, “One of the first manifestations you will see next year is a procurement website that will now advertise contracts around the country. So, the current way of doing this is you put ads in newspapers mainly. So, in 2024 alone, the cost to the Treasury of putting out those ads in the newspapers was nearly $800 million that went to the newspapers,” he explained.
The VP highlighted that with ads of this nature, except the online edition of the paper, it goes into the newspaper and that is it. Person cannot read it in the papers the following day because it is not there. With the procurement site they are looking to implement once an ad for an available contract is posted for inviting bids, it will be available for the entire period the tender is valid.
“So, you can then go there. You will see what the opportunities are. People don’t have to go and buy newspapers now and scan the newspapers for this. They can check from their phones wherever they live across the country. People have phones. They have now internet facilities in all, including in the Amerindian communities. They can check procurement opportunities across Guyana on that site,” Jagdeo explained.
Furthermore, he said the legislation will be amended to facilitate the shift and the government intends to make full use of online media entities for advertising purposes, as it believes there is a wider reach. “So, we are not going to cut out ads totally, but we can cut down the cost or give online media outlets that get no share of this ads, although they reach more viewers often than the newspapers themselves. It’s a more democratic system,” he said
Jagdeo added that, “You’re going to hear the complaints from the Stabroek and the Kaieteur News. All of them, they always say that because they believe they got a God-given right to government money and government ads. It must not be. They want efficiency and everything else, but not in that sector.”
The VP went on to further state that it is the government’s duty to use its funds efficiently and this way would be the most efficient way in which the advertising budget can be expended, warning the media to keep an eye out for the complaints from the above-mentioned entities.
“They’ve already been complaining globally: “Oh, the government not giving us enough money,” as though they, you know, the people of this country, have a duty to fund their newspapers or everything else, their activities. Watch out for their complaints to start soon. But that will be something that we want to do,” he lamented. This would be the best option as they do not have to leave their homes to go hunt down newspapers, but can check online from the comfort of their homes on their devices, and it is guaranteed to be efficient, Jagdeo reasoned.
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