The Regional Tender Board of Region Six (East Berbice–Corentyne) breached several sections of the Procurement Act of 2003 when it awarded $615.34 million in contracts in the absence of public tendering, according to Auditor General Deodat Sharma.
The findings were contained in the Auditor General’s report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020.
The AG said that the Regional Administration prequalified 183 contractors for civil works in January of 2019 and they were retained in 2020 since no prequalification was conducted then. According to the AG’s report, 206 contracts totalling $615.34 million were awarded for capital and current expenditure. However, those contracts were not publicly advertised rather the Region utilized the restricted tendering process.