President Ramotar’s admonition to contractors that penalty clauses in their contracts and blacklisting would be imposed if they produce substandard work is an important statement even if only to evaluate the intent and seriousness of the government. Speaking at a procurement seminar on Friday, the President said “I am asking the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General Office to re-examine these laws (Procurement Laws) because I don’t think that the taxpayers must be paying for these things… we must put in the laws and that we must implement clauses in our contract for penalties for those who cannot complete their contracts.”
He said further “I’m even asking them to re-examine the possibilities of blacklisting people such as contractors, engineers or consultants who consistently produce jobs that will cost us more money than it should actually cost us. I believe that is the only way we will get full value-for-hard-earned-money we spend in our society… these people should pay and not the taxpayer”.
These are all fine sounding sentiments that could potentially lead to improvement in governance except that leading PPP/C government officials have routinely invoked similar declarations to impress the public over the last two decades without commensurate action on the ground.
The occasions have been numerous and some remarkable for the breathtaking gulf between the intent and action. Witness former President Jagdeo’s declaration of April 2009 during a meeting with contractors and consultants similar to the one that President Ramotar addressed. No doubt intending to come across as firm and single-minded, the President Jagdeo had this to say “I think that from now on we will have a process of rigorously identifying the capabilities (of contractors) and then throughout the year this will make our work easy”. His statement implied that up to that point in 2009 the government and those who were undertaking the evaluations of the capacity of contractors had not done intensive assessments of same. As if to underline the fact that three years later nothing had been achieved, President Ramotar had this to say on Friday “Some of the variations that I see coming up, these variations are huge… very often it has to do with contractors who cannot finish their work because of capacity and making excuses for not having it done. Much of that is unacceptable to a poor country like ours that is struggling”.
Clearly, the real capabilities of contractors relative to discharging obligations on big projects are not being adequately evaluated.
At that very forum in 2009, Finance Minister Singh also had concerns about contractors overextending themselves and being unable to deliver, leading President Jagdeo to say “that is going to change and liquidated damages will be instituted. I don’t think you can go to the Minister of Finance or any other Ministry to get a break, like we have seen in the past…this is going to be across the board.”
President Jagdeo also addressed the likelihood of blacklisting contractors saying that those who failed to live up to their contractual obligations would not be given contracts even if “I have to amend the legislation to ensure that this happens”. This was also addressed by President Ramotar on Friday, a reflection of the ongoing malaise.
As if to add salt to the wound, Home Affairs Minister Rohee, in an address to contractors in June 2010, referred to the same statements by former President Jagdeo in 2009 and declared that “This year we have stricter procedures that will be followed outside of the contractual arrangements to monitor the pace at which these projects are being executed”. He also delivered the same messages about blacklisting and the application of liquidated damages.
None of these commitments were met by the Jagdeo administration either before 2009 or thereafter. There are many monuments of failure to these words. They include the Supenaam/Good Hope Stelling, the road to Amaila Falls and the horribly done Skeldon factory.
If President Ramotar expects to be taken seriously on procurement transparency and accountability he must act with determination and deliver results. At the apex of the requirements is the constituting of the Public Procurement Commission which will oversee the entire sector and provide another layer of accountability. This matter has been delayed for too long and both the government and the opposition have to be blamed for handling its constituting in a cavalier manner.
Second, if the President’s government is really serious about determining the ability of contractors to undertake multiple contracts then it must enshrine in the procedures of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board the ability to determine whether a contractor with a finite amount of resources has bitten off more than he/she can chew. This is pivotal for determining whether that contractor should end up on a shortlist of recommended contractors. There is no indication of any structured attempt by the government to enable such a review.
Third, twenty years after it took office, the PPP/C is still to present the public with any framework for blacklisting contractors. Indeed, has any contractor been blacklisted? Or after a period of purgatory he/she is allowed back in? There have been numerous cases over the years where contractors who have failed to do the job have been quietly excused and the government is left to foot the bill for remedial work. The Supenaam stelling is a prime example of botched works leading to massive additional expenditure charged to Guyanese taxpayers. There has been no attempt to retrieve these sums from the contractor or others who might have been culpable. The High Street building which was to have housed several ministries but which stands now as bleak testimony to construction gone wrong is another example of taxpayers being bilked as a result of these government failings.
Fourth, an engineer’s/contractor’s Act dealing with registration of bona fide engineers/contractors from which pool selections would be made for state contracts would have been a clear sign that the government was serious about protecting the interest of the public and taxpayers. There has been nothing in this direction. Many projects, particularly smaller ones, have gone to contractors who don’t know what they are about. Road projects – several of which recently incensed Lindeners – are prime examples of this. Scarce money then has to be expended to rehabilitate these.
President Ramotar must know that the time for words is long gone. He has mouthed what many in previous PPP/C governments have said. It is time for action and public evidence of it.
