THE Kaieteur News article of August 20, 2009 titled “Stanleytown pump and engine” is totally erroneous and mischievous. The public must be forewarned about this marauding newspaper that is out to create an impression that there is much corruption and overpricing involved in the meting out of contracts.

Firstly, the company, Everglades farm equipment in Florida does not sell pumps of this nature. I visited the company (see attached photograph) and was told in no uncertain terms that the company is a John Deere dealer in farm equipment and if I was interested in pumps of that nature, I should check with the Moving Water Industries (MWI) pump company. They were unable to provide me with any estimates for the cost of such pumps. They could, however, supply the John Deere engine and the price landed in Guyana would be in the vicinity of US$50,000. This is approaching $11M. I believe that the Kaieteur Newspapers used this price for the engine alone to mislead the public. I hereby challenge the Kaieteur Newspaper to obtain a detailed quotation from this company for the pump; engine and gear drive and publish it in all the newspapers.

I have purchased the engine for the Stanleytown pump station from the local John Deere dealer at a lower price with full parts and labour warranty, which is a requirement of the contract. As can be seen from the attached invoice the price for the engine along without VAT and duty is $8,610,228. If I were to pay duty and taxes, it will be $10,487,257. This approximates to the $11M Kaieteur Newspaper is referring to.

Also attached to this letter is the price schedule for the pump, gear drive and drive shaft with coupling as supplied by the MWI pump company that manufactured the pump. The prices are:

Pump – US$178,273 ($36,724,238)
Gear Drive – US$40,360 ($8,314,160)
Drive shaft and coupling – US$3,446 ($709,876)

The above plus the cost of the engine ($8, 610, 228) gives a total value of the imported equipment as $54,358,502.

The discharge pipe work (54 inch ID) and skid supporting the engine and gear drive were manufactured locally at a cost in excess of $2M

I am now requesting of Mr. Glen Lall to refute these prices that can be verified by the Auditor General of Guyana and if he can’t, would he have the guts to publish an apology for his gross lies on the front page of the Kaieteur Newspaper. If he finds these prices still too high for a total bid price of $61.5M for supplying and installing the pump, then he needs mental care.

Similarly, I would like him to identify the make of paint where you can use 14 gallons and supply three coats of spray painting to the entire pump house. I believe he is in contact with UFOs as that kind of paint does not exist on earth.

Can Mr. Glen Lall tell the public if the $11M pump he is talking about is a disposable pump like disposable cameras or it is a pump intended for long term disposal of flood water? I am looking forward to his response and I hope it is not all lies again!
HARRYCHAND TULSI

Caption: Contractor Harrychand Tulsi in front of the Everlades Farm Equipment Company PHOTO (SCANNED)