Latest update April 3rd, 2026 12:35 AM
Reg.10 RDC breached Procurement Act for works on Bamia Primary School – AG Report
(Kaieteur News) – The Auditor General (AG) 2024 report has revealed that the Regional Democratic Council of Region 10 has breached the Procurement Act of 2003 by splitting contracts to avoid adjudication by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for works relating to the Bamia Primary School.
The AG report which was tabled at the first sitting of the 13th Parliament on Monday revealed that the RDC awarded three contracts totalling $40.7 million for a chain link fence at the school.
The Bamia Primary School.
The report explained that a multi- year contract for the construction of Bamia/Amelia’s Ward Primary School was made in 2021 by NPTAB in the sum of $346.328 million.
The audit office stated that a physical verification in July 2025, revealed that the works were still ongoing, while the revised completion date of April 1, 2024 had elapsed. The AG noted that as of December 31, 2023, amounts totalling $279.420 million were paid to the contractor and no further payments were made in 2024.
“However, audit examination of payment vouchers and related supporting documents presented revealed that three contracts totaling $40.726M were awarded by the Regional Tender Board (RTB) to three contractors on the same date for the construction of chain link fence at Bamia Primary School,” the AG raised.
These awards, the report stated, breached Section 14 of the procurement act since it seemed that the contracts were deliberately subdivided to avoid adjudication by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).
In a table documenting these awards, the AG shared that the contracts were awarded on December 23, 2024 for the following: Construction of chain link Bamia Primary School – Western side – $13,750,000; Construction of chain link fence at Bamia Primary School – Eastern side – $13,700,000; and Construction of chain link Bamia Primary School Southern side – $13,276,000.
Responding to the findings, the regional administration accepted the findings of the audit office, expressing regret for the breach of the procurement act. “This approach was employed to facilitate an urgent need to secure an investment of over $300 million the Government of Guyana had made in the Bamia/Amelia’s ward Primary School. The administration takes full responsibility for its action,” the RDC responded.
Kaieteur News had reported that contract splitting, a tactic used to dodge transparency and oversight involves breaking a major project into smaller payments that fall below the threshold requiring scrutiny by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).
It was reported that in the same 2025 report, the Guyana Police Force had violated the act using the same tactic.
This practice, auditors warn, opens the door to fraud, including kickbacks and bid-rigging, by bypassing competitive bidding and independent review. The Procurement Act 2003 is unambiguous. Section 14 clearly states: “A procuring entity shall not split or cause to split contracts or divide or cause to divide its procurement into separate contracts where the sole purpose for doing so is to avoid the application of any provision of this Act,” the report said.
As reported recently, it is almost four years since the contract was awarded and five missed deadlines that the school is yet to be completed. The $346 million contract for the Bamia Primary School was awarded to St8tment Investment Inc. in November 2021. Since then, the project experienced several delays due to a range of challenges, including labour shortages, increased material costs, and unfavourable weather conditions. The setbacks collectively impacted the original timeline and contributed to extensions; the contractor claimed.
Newly appointed Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Priya Manickchand when visited the project site in September and gave the contractor to complete all works by October.
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