By Ariana Gordon

THE Ministry of Public Infrastructure is calling on contractors to demonstrate pride and nationalism, especially when executing Government projects.
Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson, on Friday charged new and current contractors to ensure that the services being provided to the Government and people of Guyana must be of high quality.

“We expect better suppliers, better quality… this would be better for all Guyana,” the minister said in her address to the first Procurement Symposium for new- entrant contractors held at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre.
The forum seeks to educate both new and old contractors on the process they have to comply with when procuring goods, services or otherwise.
Public procurement is of vital importance to the Government, since more than 70 per cent of the country’s annual budget speaks to public procurement. It accounts for some $160B or 27 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Corrupt practices within the procurement process could result in the loss of billions of dollars. Former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran had estimated that approximately $28B is lost annually to corrupt practices in the areas of sole- sourcing of drug contracts, inflated engineers’ estimates, evaluator’s bias on behalf of favoured contractors, use of inexperienced contractors and the absence of competitive bidding in some cases and overpayments to contractors.
“Whether his estimated annual loss is correct or not, it raises significant concerns which our Government intends to address,” Minister Ferguson said.
Procurement is critical to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure’s response to the country’s infrastructural needs, and the minister was hopeful that the conference will result in a fair, transparent and corruption-free procurement system.
She anticipated that after the informative symposium, Government will attract more suppliers and contractors who will deliver “value-for-money” works.
According to Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, the symposium was aimed at building the capacity of new and existing contractors.
He said upon assuming his ministerial portfolio, he had recognised that the ministry was inundated with persons who were interested in providing either goods or services.
However, they were unaware of the procurement process.
“We found that, because of that, there was a need for this seminar. It is my job to ensure that there is change,” he remarked.
The minister said there are many hurdles pertaining to the procurement process and references the distrust of the system and the lack of knowledge on the part of contractors.
Given those challenges, he believes that the symposium will empower contractors.
Like Minister Ferguson, Patterson said transparency and accountability are critical in the procurement process and he intends to ensure that all processes are fair.
“We are starting the process today and it is a continuing process,” he said, adding that emphasis is also being placed on improving interactions between contractors and ministry officials.
Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma, told the contractors that approximately $32B is open to them annually, but stressed that there must not be a repeat of the old system where allegations of corruption have been constant.
“That’s a lot of money… you need all of the necessary guidance and skills to compete,” said Minister Sharma, as he called on them to familiarise themselves with the Procurement Act of 2003.
Meanwhile, National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) Chairman Berkley Wickham in his presentation gave an insight to the Procurement Act, while Manager of Procurement contracts of the Work Services Group, Phillip Bryan, spoke to the pre-qualification process.
Other presenters included Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Compliance Department Manager Melissa Romeo; National Insurance Scheme (NIS) Assistant Operations Manager William Boston; Insurance Association of Guyana head Yogindra Arjune; and Works Services Group Chief Works Officer.
The contractors also benefited from a simulation bid submission exercise done by Procurement Consultant Terrence Naraine.