Distancing himself from claims that he is a supporter of the APNU+AFC government, geotechnical engineer Charles Ceres yesterday waded into both parties for their poor management saying they lack vision and need to give youths a chance to govern.
“I am not a member of the AFC, I am not a member of the APNU,” Ceres told a press conference he yesterday hosted at his company’s Liliendaal headquarters.
“I am an engineer and I cannot support certain persons who do not understand the importance of engineering to a country’s development, which is what you see in both the APNU and the AFC. So I want to have that notion that I am a member of any one of those parties totally disabused,” he further stated.
Ministers of the AFC came in for the harshest criticisms as Ceres pointed to the 2016 contract government renegotiated with ExxonMobil’s subsidiary where there were no ring-fencing provisions.
“The AFC has among its ranks Raphael Trotman. As I can recall, when he was Speaker of the House, he claimed to have a heart condition that was going to cause him to retire in a month. He is still in politics up to this day. He has to currently [take] the responsibility for the absence of ring-fencing in the contract with ExxonMobil…and I have some other issues with him,” he said while pointing to the potential effects of the decision.
Trotman has absolved himself of any responsibility for not expressing sooner that the lack of ring-fencing provisions in the Production Sharing Agreement with ExxonMobil’s subsidiary could negatively affect revenue earned by Guyana from the oil operations and has blamed the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission.
Government’s recent admission of the ring-fencing lacuna to the IMF is seen as an indictment of Trotman, who presided in secret over the renegotiation of the PSA with ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, EEPGL, without addressing a range of key issues.
Trotman had, at one time, described the new Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) as a “tweaking” of the earlier one but his handling of the process has come under severe criticism for not addressing matters such as ring-fencing, relinquishment of oil blocks, higher royalties and a bigger signing bonus. His shifting from the sector was seen in some quarters as a response to the various problems with the renegotiated PSA. Critics had said that the renegotiation was done without a single recognized expert on the Guyanese side capable of matching wits with ExxonMobil.
Sole-sourcing
Ceres also pointed to Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson saying that his sole- sourcing of a contract saw Ceres’ company for the first time having to answer questions from the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), which he said does not augur well for the reputation of his company. He explained that his company was subcontracted by the Dutch Company LievenseCo that was awarded the sole-sourced contract for a feasibility study.
“David Patterson, Minister of Public Infrastructure, sole-sourced the (feasibility study) contract across the Demerara Harbour Bridge and we got embroiled in that because we were contracted by LievenseCo. We had to produce a statement to SOCU on that sole-sourcing,” Ceres bemoaned.
The Public Procurement Commission (PPC) found that the ministry breached the country’s procurement laws in the single-sourcing of the contract to LievenseCSO. Cabinet had cleared the award of the contract.
The PPC, in its findings, said the ministry did not place any advertisement for retendering the project, there was no evidence that any restricted procurement process was undertaken for the consultancy, and there was no evidence in the records of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) of a request made by the ministry to approve a single-source award.
An irked Ceres said that his company is contracted for works by international companies and it took him decades to build the stellar reputation the company has. He said that Patterson’s actions had the potential for some of those companies to find that information when researching his company.
AFC Executive and former Chairman of the Guyana Chronicle, Sherod Duncan also came in for his share of blasting as Ceres noted that Duncan had condemned the actions of former city Town Clerk Royston King only to himself become enmeshed in scandal as Chairman. “Then there are people like Sherod Duncan who had issues with the way Royston King operated when he went out to sign the parking meter contract and was operating like a king … I can’t associate with people of that ilk,” He said.
Ceres said that the APNU+AFC government needed to give youths more opportunity to take over leadership and decision-making roles as they are the future of the country.
“This country needs to be led by young people. I am a dinosaur in this country…politics is for young people. My generation is fueled by the politics of the three Rs: race, resentment and retribution. I want a country that is governed by optimism that’s what I want and the old people can’t do that,” he said.
“We have to be answerable to ourselves….we need people who are absent of those three Rs. I encourage the young people” he added.
Ceres said that government and the private sector need to invest in the youth of the country and if they do, they would see that monetary investments bring much returns.
He explained that his company invests in sending its workers to the University of Guyana because it gets a tax break on those funds spent. “Every time I spend $100,000 on a young person, I save $35,000 in taxes. Why should I pay the tax when I can invest in young people? Who are looking at Guyana’s future and are optimistic about Guyana?” he questioned.
He scoffed at suggestions that he is interested in politics saying that not only is he too old but that he doesn’t have the patience. “I have no interests whatsoever…I don’t have the patience with the politics, I want to retire and relax…,” he said.
