– Edghill tells contractor: ‘Give me one reason why you should not be blacklisted’

MINISTER within the Ministry of Finance, Bishop Juan Edghill, and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr George Jarvis, were visibly upset on Thursday when they travelled to Ebini in Berbice only to find that works that should have been completed by a contractor between October and November are less than fifty percent complete.
Mr Jarvis related to the Chronicle and Minister Edghill that, after awarding the contract to the contractor, the Ministry of Agriculture realised that he was having cash flow problems, and offered to assist him in securing his materials for the job and in getting them to the remote area.

“I think it’s time the Government starts suing contractors. Right now you are at a state of liquidated damages; no excuse would suffice, you cannot come into these parts and play the fool and expect us to shut our eyes.” – Minister Juan Edghill

The Agriculture Ministry awarded the contract for rehabilitation of several structures in the area to be used by two key departments of the ministry, namely the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA). The works included rehabilitating an office to be shared by the two agencies, besides staff facility and laboratory and several other structures.
The project, which has another lot on the East Coast of Demerara at Mon Repos, has a price tag of just over Gy$68 million.
Asked to explain his dilemma, the contractor, whose only name was given as Dookie, said he has been having several setbacks with respect to moving materials for the project to the remote upper Berbice river location. He also told of his workers, who are all from Georgetown, usually refusing to travel back to the area after being paid.
“That is not my headache,” Minister Edghill declared. “Give your workers incentives that will cause them to stay ‘get the work done’ and leave and go home when they are finished.”

According to the contractor, who seemed not too bothered about the consequences to the state as a result of his delays with the work, he has been trying his best.
That statement did upset Permanent Secretary Jarvis, who informed the minister that the ministry has been going “overboard” to ensure that the man had access to the materials needed and the means to get them up there. From all indications, the contractor did not want that arrangement, since it appeared that he would have been more comfortable interfacing with the suppliers himself, and dealing with them in a manner differently from the ministry, which has to produce receipts and pay taxes on purchases made.
For the past two weeks, the contractor and his team have adopted a hands-off approach to the works in the area since, according to him, he is waiting on word from the Ministry of Agriculture on whether work should continue on buildings which he and his men have been unable to complete by the deadline, and those which have not even been touched.

However, the Ministry of Agriculture is yet to decide on the way forward, and, come Monday, there will be a meeting with Minister Edghill, the contractor and all other parties concerned and involved in the project to come to a final conclusion on how the project is to be handled, and the fate of the delinquent contractor.
Mr. Dookie, the contractor, told the team headed by the minister that it is his intention to bring on another contractor to assist with the completion of the works. He asked for an additional two months to ensure that everything is complete; but although the minister seemed very okay with the man’s proposal, he made it very clear that should another contractor come on board, or the works are allowed to be completed by the contractor, it should be at no additional cost to the Government and people of Guyana.
“You are behind, you used up all your time, you practically demobilized, and you are asking for two months to complete this project. What have you done in three months?” Minister Edghill asked the contractor.

The minister asked the contractor if he knew the importance of the project, and his job and obligation to the Guyanese people as the contractor. “Give me one reason why you should not be blacklisted and never again be given another contract from the Government,” Minister Edghill asked the contractor.
The contractor responded by telling the minister that he should not be blacklisted because the project is an interior one and he has been trying his best to complete it. He however, failed to acknowledge that all the problems he encountered that caused the delay were brought upon himself, since he failed to whole-heartedly accept the assistance offered to him by the Agriculture Minister to secure his materials and assist with transporting same to the interior location.
“I think it’s time the Government starts suing contractors. Right now you are at a state of liquidated damages; no excuse would suffice, you cannot come into these parts and play the fool and expect us to shut our eyes,” Minister Edghill passionately declared.
Permanent Secretary Jarvis opined that the way forward should be the securing of a contractor that would get the job done, and while the now delinquent and lackadaisical Dookie can identify the sub-contractor, the choice must be one that the Ministry of Agriculture has confidence in with respect to completing the works, to prevent them ending up in the situation Dookie presently has them in.
Minister Edghill and PS Jarvis, during their visit to the area on Thursday, were greeted with buildings which had not been touched by the contractor – missing walls and windows; incomplete ceiling and stairs; unpainted building; buildings with uninstalled pipe fittings; no electrical work done, and a whole host of other unsightly features which would upset any public official who has to answer how the State’s money is being spent.
The entire project is funded by a foreign donor agency, and once the time frame for the project is up with works outstanding, if the donor agency does not approve an extension for the works, then the money has to be returned.
The slothfulness of the works has also affected operation in the community, with the community being left without power until certain aspects of the work are completed, and those include the installation of a new generator system.
Once completed, the area will be used for breeding and raring of certain cattle and research work for NAREI and GLDA.
Among those who accompanied the Minister and Permanent Secretary on Thursday were Dr. Oudho Homenauth and Dr. Dindyal Permaul, and Messrs. Fredrick Flatts, Dhaneshwar James, Raymond Latchman and Nigel Cumberbatch.

(By Leroy Smith)