Attorney-at-law Charrandass Persaud has transitioned into the private sector as a contractor, securing a $50 million road project in Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara.
The project, which involves the construction of a new road in the area next to Sophia, was awarded to him.
The award of the project will add to the questions that have been raised about the national procurement system. Persaud has no experience as a road builder and should not have qualified for the project.
Speaking to the media on Sunday at Moblissa, Persaud shared his thoughts on the current state of road contracting in Guyana, raising concerns about transparency and the distribution of contracts. According to him, there are troubling patterns in how road contracts are being awarded, particularly to certain individuals with political affiliations.
“I have some things that are contentious, things that are happening around here that I am not happy with,” Persaud said, before elaborating on what he sees as systemic issues. He cited the example of one Aubrey, a contractor from New Amsterdam, who he claims has been repeatedly awarded road contracts. “That man gets road contracts left, right, and centre,” Persaud stated. He expressed concern that contractors who “crossed the floor” from the People’s National Congress Reform and aligned with the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) are receiving large contracts while others, despite their loyalty to the ruling party, are being overlooked and only given smaller contracts worth $15 million.
“Some contractors who are die-hard PPP supporters are getting these 15 million-dollar projects, and some of them aren’t even being paid attention to. That by itself speaks to the stupidity of the people issuing these contracts,” he remarked, adding that the current approach seemed disorganized and lacking in accountability.
Despite his critiques, Persaud did acknowledge some positive aspects of the government’s approach. Specifically, he praised Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, calling him “one of the finest ministers” in the administration. “He is making everybody happy, giving everybody a small contract like $15 million or $20 million, knowing that you will have to have somebody help you like I am doing, but you get it done within a designated time frame,” Persaud said, highlighting his own involvement in subcontracting the roadwork in Cummings Lodge to specialists.
In a broader commentary on the state of the road contracting sector, Persaud also raised concerns about the qualification of some contractors. “I went to Berbice a few days ago, and 369 contractors were issued contracts to people like myself who don’t know anything about roads. But you then have people like carpenters or engineers to help you do the work,” he explained.
Persaud achieved notoriety in 2018 when as an APNU+AFC MP he voted with the PPP/C on a motion of no confidence against the APNU+AFC government. When the PPP/C government took office he was named as High Commissioner to India in what was seen as payback for his vote. He was recalled from India in disgrace after uttering profanities at an Indian woman.
