At the signing…
AGRICULTURE Minister Robert Persaud yesterday invited public scrutiny and participation in the monitoring, oversight and implementation of 19 contracts, for $398.5M, that were signed in the Ministry boardroom, Vlissengen and Regent Roads, Georgetown. The contracted works are expected to facilitate improvement in drainage and irrigation and support for the National Drainage and Irrigational Authority (NDIA) and the Agriculture Sector Development Unit (ASDU).
“We want maximum transparency in the way in which we execute Government projects. At the end of the day, we want all the beneficiaries to know how it is we are spending the resources that belong to the people of Guyana,” Mr. Persaud said at the signing  in the presence of other stakeholders.
He said the documents are public property that can be accessed by stakeholders and, apart from transparency, value for money is a priority area of focus.
In that context, Persaud pointed out that the Auditor General’s Department has been invited to conduct a thorough review of projects implemented to ensure value for money.
“A way in which we can ensure that projects executed stick to the contract documents or requirements is getting the engagement of communities, beneficiaries, farmers and others in and around the project area,” he reiterated.
Persaud emphasised the importance of public participation and appealed for beneficiaries to be involved.
Additionally, he said the involvement of independent supervisors and consultants has been a feature of the larger projects implemented in the past.
Supervision
“In many of the big contracts that we do, we have supervisors and consultants. Two of the projects signed here today cover that kind of supervision,” Persaud said.
He admitted that his ministry lacks the relevant capacity to adequately supervise and monitor the implementation of all projects and some amount of outsourcing needs to be done.
“Competent personnel and agencies are engaged to do this because, at the end of the day, we want the projects to be effective and successful,” Persaud stated.
According to him, 18 of the 19 contracts signed are between the NDIA arm of the Ministry and the contractors and worth $212.7M, covering the Ministry’s irrigation programme for 2010.
“The projects will be done in response to representation made by communities, in terms of emergency works in areas where we need to institute new drainage systems and resuscitate others that would have been abandoned for decades, because people are now looking to cultivate larger areas,” he explained.
As such, the Minister said his ministry needs to be responsive.
The other contract, valued $185.8M, to be executed within the framework of the ASDU, is the construction of the Rice Seed Facility at Number 56 Village, Corentyne, Berbice.
Persaud said it will be a modern facility, intended to allow farmers, in and out of Berbice, to access quality seeds, as good crops start with having good seeds.
Quality at the starting point of rice production has been lacking across the industry and he contended that the investment is needed and forms part of the Ministry’s efforts to make it more competitive.
Other than the rice industry, Persaud observed that the contracts address the El Nino phenomenon, as well.
“All these projects are critical in moving our programme for 2010 forward and are being done with the aim of improving the quality of services that we provide to farmers and the wider public,” he asserted.
Persaud exhorted the contractors to observe principles of quality, value for money and timeliness in the execution of the different projects, completion of which is of utmost importance.