After expressing concerns about the overlooking of local contractors and the lack of consultations, the General Contractors Association of Guyana (GCAG) yesterday said it has met with a key minister and is encouraged by the efforts made by the administration to address their issues.
In a release yesterday, the association’s secretary Neil Cort Rogers said that it met with Minister in the Minister of Communities with responsibility for housing, Valerie Patterson on July 8 and while they remain concerned about regulatory reform towards greater transparency and wider opportunities for locally based contractors, “GCAG is encouraged by this …year-old administration’s efforts to address the ongoing challenges facing the small and medium size contractors.”
Two weeks ago it was reported by Stabroek Business that the association was shocked that there was no consultation with local contractors for a housing project on the East Bank of Demerara and members of the association had stated that it was being overlooked in favour of a Suriname-based Chinese company.
Efforts by Stabroek News to contact Minister Patterson yesterday for a comment proved futile.
Meanwhile, several other members of the GCAG endorsed the view expressed by Cort Rogers, stating that the association ought to have been engaged for discussions once it had been decided that there were houses to be built.
Cort Rogers was quoted as saying about the East Bank project that, “we’re shocked. At this stage it is not a question of who gets the contract but the fact that there were houses to be built.”
Additionally, President of the GCAG Aubrey Jones had told this newspaper that the association was upset that it was overlooked for consultations.
He had also said that the engagement between the Central Housing and Planning Authority and the Surinamese-based Chinese company was surprising since as far as they are aware they had never engaged a foreign firm to construct homes for Guyanese.
The release however added that the association was looking forward to a constructive consultation with the Minister “and the Government on the construction of the Turn Key Homes Project and other important issues…”, the release added.
