THE authorities are examining the revocation procedures which can be applied to errant contractors who have been awarded contracts but are unable to undertake works after those contracts have been inked.Ministry of Public Infrastructure David Patterson said persons would complain of their inability to secure contracts to for works across the country, but their ability to undertake works are

hampered by identified challenges such as availability of equipment since some contractors would have more than one contracts and continue to bid for more.
He listed projects in Regions One and Eight in which the contractor received mobilisation fees since June this year, yet no physical work has begun.
He said the Linden/Lethem Road works were tendered and awarded and soon the rainy season will commence in that area, and again, no work has started.
Residents of the Mabaruma sub-region have complained about the dire state of the pot-holed filled roads which connects Mabaruma to other communities in recent months, some of which have caused motorists to reconsider plans of undertaking public transportation services there.
According to Patterson, a contract was signed since July for works to be undertaken and a commencement order was given in August for a four-month contract, yet no work has been undertaken.
The minister said he called the contractor’s engineer who informed that the works will be finished in a month and a half. This, he said is not realistic.
“On revocation, we are moving to that,” he said, but noted someone may be awarded a contract for a period of four months but works may not commence until late in that period.
In these situations, he said technically, the awardee has not breached the contract since the timeframe remains valid.
The minister went on to say that having collected monies for mobilisation with no works undertaken, “the Ministry feels locked in”.
Turning his attention to another matter, the Minister Patterson said over the next three months, the MPI will focus on plans to attract graduate engineers to be stationed in hinterland regions.
Earlier this year, he said positions were advertised for 11 engineers to be stationed in the hinterland districts, but the MPI was able to attract only one person.
“That obviously impacts on our delivery schedule,” he said, noting that for each project, the Ministry assigns an engineer from Georgetown.
“They can visit so often, that is one of the distinct challenges we have,” he said, noting that it limits the MPI’s capacity to carry out testing and work can be affected in the end.
According to Patterson, the role of the MPI is expanding since it does most of the “heavy lifting for the Government” in terms of projects such as maintenance of roads, buildings and other infrastructural works countrywide.
Questioned on the possibility of contracting engineers, Patterson said this does not work in tandem with the Public Service rules. He said he had approached Cabinet but was told that under the Public Service Commission rules, it was not possible.
The minister said Cabinet had asked the Public Service Ministry to advertise positions for 11 engineers at a monthly salary of $230,000, but persons were still unwilling to go into the interior.