Govt should establish construction arm to avoid inflated contracts- Ramotar

Last Updated on Friday, 6 October 2023, 5:21 by Denis Chabrol

Amid concerns about the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board’s (NPTAB) award of a GY$865.5 million contract to build a pump station, former President Donald Ramotar on Thursday recommended that government establish its own construction arm to force contractors to bid with realistic rather than inflated prices.

“I believe that government should develop some capacity; some of its own capacity to protect itself from some of the prices that I see that are being charged in different type of construction in his country; it to take over but just to ensure that the treasury is not raided by this new class of contractors that we find in our land,” he told an “An Evening of Reflection on October 5th 1992” at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre.

The PPP returned to office in 1992 after almost 30 years of being in opposition due to elections that had been widely regarded as rigged gy the People’s National Congress (PNC).

Mr Ramotar, who was President from 2011 to 2015, later told Demerara Waves Online News that he was unsure whether NPTAB was tasked with ensuring that contracts were awarded in keeping with costs and specifications. At the same time, he stressed the importance of having a government-run construction arm “so that they can have a better idea of what real costs are” and so help to reduce the cost of projects and have even more.

“First of all, I think the government should use some of its own capacity to do some work in order to get an idea of what costs are and they can get an idea of how much they’re being ripped off and if they are being ripped off, and secondly my idea is that, if the government goes out for a job and they think the bid is far too high, despite they’re giving it to the lowest bidder, then they can take the job themselves,” he said.

According to Mr Ramotar, if such a system is put in place contractors would be much more careful in attempting to inflate prices, resulting in them being more competitive and Guyanese getting better value for money.

The NPTAB was this week forced to defend the award of the GY$865.5 million contract for the construction of a pump station at Belle Vue, West Bank Demerara, However, NPTAB has not addressed opposition parliamentarian David Patterson’s concern that Tepui Group might not have the experience, having only been established one year ago. Mr Patterson has asked the Public Procurement Commission to investigate whether the award of that contract was above board.

The opposition has called for the Procurement Act to be amended to allow for opposition representation on NPTAB.

Meanwhile, Dr Jerry Jailall said he and his wife attended Thursday’s event “because we’re Jaganites”. He said Guyanese should always bear in mind what People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Founder-Leader and former President Cheddi Jagan would have liked to see for Guyana. “If Dr Jagan is our living guide, the party needs to ask itself what would Dr Jagan do about poverty, about oil and all the kinds of problems that we have here in Guyana.”

He said democracy was not suddenly ushered in with free and fair elections on October 5, 1992 but instead has to be built. “As we build a democracy under this PPP government, the people must still win. We must put the working class first, middle and last and we should never give people cause on the other side to say this party is not a working class party anymore,” he said.

Mr Jailall asked that housewives, pensioners, disabled, the weak, small farmers, carpenters and the self-employed and ask what would Dr Jagan have done