Former Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson on Friday said that there was a clear conflict of interest at Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Board as two luxury vehicles had been purchased from a company managed by one of their members.
“That is a clear conflict of interest,” he told a press conference.
On Tuesday, employees of GPL staged a protest in which they called for an increase in wages and salaries. During the protest it was revealed that the company had purchased two new vehicles for use by senior managers from company managed by it board chair.
Maurice Gajadhar, who chairs the GPL Board, is also Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Rudisa Motor Company Guyana Inc.
The next day, GPL dismissed claims of impropriety, declaring in a statement that the vehicles were acquired through a National Competitive Bidding Process.
“Five bids were received and were comprehensively evaluated in accordance with the Company’s Procurement Manual. The tender was awarded to the lowest evaluated bidder. For clarity, these vehicles, which are the property of the Company are utilized by the Executive Directors in the execution of their duties,” the statement explained.
According to AFC parliamentarian Juretha Fernandes, this explanation is not good enough.
“The futile attempt…to excuse the purchase of two new luxury vehicles purportedly for use by Divisional Directors of GPL is callous and shows the contempt the Board and the CEO of GPL have for the ordinary workers of the company and the people of Guyana,” Fernandes, who spoke at the press conference, maintained, before saying that GPL should not buy vehicles for senior management while trying to avoid paying workers a salary increase.
“Such decision-making practices show the lopsided interest the present corps of executives have and is reminiscent of pre-2015. We remind these executives that it is primarily the ordinary workers who keep power generation going and it is the ordinary workers who collect revenue for GPL. Clearly priorities need to be realigned at GPL,” Fernandes said, before adding that the conflict of interest involved shows the total disregard the board has for corporate good governance.
Patterson reminded that during the tenure of the APNU+AFC government there were numerous articles and editorials written about conflict of interest.
“Minister Hughes was accused because she was in Cabinet and her husband opened an oil and gas firm. There was all this hue and cry from Stabroek News and Kaieteur News and Transparency International but we are not seeing that now,” he lamented.
The former Minister on behalf of his party also called for an investigation to be launched into GPL’s new procurement practices in light of the recent Guyoil scandal where it has been alleged fuel was improperly procured for the power company.
He explained that prior to August 2020, GPL procured fuel via long-term contracts after a public procurement process.
“It was the policy under the coalition administration that fuel supplied to GPL was to be done under an open and transparent system. Eligible bidders were invited to submit bids for a long-term contract based on the specifications, cost, and transportation for fuel to GPL. Bidders had to confirm that they can deliver the required amounts, from an approved refinery, on a fixed schedule (usually every 10 days) before being awarded the Contract,” he shared, adding that despite dozens of unsolicited bids being received for the supply of fuel to this entity all were declined.
Regular, confirmed supply of fuel to GPL is critical to the smooth operations of the organization, Patterson said, while sharing that the practice of purchasing from middlemen was completely discontinued from 2015, since it was deemed a recipe for inefficiency and corruption as has been uncovered with the most recent scandal.
