…but decries slow pace of project implementation

Notwithstanding the challenges facing the Finance Ministry, critical steps have been taken to raise its standard of operation, according to the Finance Minister Winston Jordan.
Having served in various senior capacities within the Ministry, Jordan said upon his return in 2015 as Minister of Finance, he was disappointed that little progress had been made. According to the Minister, since his return to head the Ministry of Finance, he has been trying to organise it to cater for, “the new and more dynamic environment, we are in. For example, reporters who have gone to our website would have seen a vastly different website than you would have had before. There is so much information now that some reporters are kind of worried on how to interpret some of them.”
Additionally, he boasted that stakeholders can now get updated economic information on the country with just an internet connection. “Despite it (the information) may be used sometimes against the government, the administration does not mind.”
He said too that there will be greater access to information with the decision by the Bureau of Statistics to conduct tow long overdue censuses. “One will result in us understanding, what is the unemployment rate, both nationally and regionally… It is important to understand what the employment and unemployment rate is by region, so that you could plan regionally. And of course, it is important to understand whether you are making a difference nationally, to the unemployment rate,” he posited.
The second census will focus on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Minister Jordan noted, which has focused on Georgetown and its environs. This will be expanded to cover the regions. As prices vary from region to region, this will also help to shape how money is allocated for various purchases, for example.
Additionally, Minister Jordan said Government has been putting the requisite systems in place to accelerate the process at with which Public Sector Investments are executed with the recruitment of a Chief Planning Officer and the creation of a National Planning Unit.

Slow rate of implementation
Currently, only 20 per cent of the country’s Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) has been implemented for 2017 – a situation which Minister Jordan said leaves much to be desired.
The Finance Minister pointed out that the Agriculture, Health, Education, Infrastructure and the Communities Sectors account for the “bulk” of the $250B budget, however, the execution of projects and programmes in these sectors are stymied due to the lack of critical skills needed for implementation.
It was noted the slow rate of implementation affects the economy and by extension the people of the country.
“It affects economic growth because in the economy that wants a stimulus it is government spending people look to. We have the monies voted. The issue is to get it out into the system so that dollar can continue making an extra dollar,” he posited.
After two years of introducing early budgets, the Finance Minister said Government is faced with the sad reality that Government workers, particularly those critically involved in the execution of projects and programmes have still not gotten use to the new system. The national budget is now being presented in November and approved by December ahead of the Fiscal Year.
“So you would think that the period between October and December, they would use for, let’s say pre-tendering, getting….and stop short of awarding of contracts until the budget has been passed,” Minister Jordan posited.
“The budget gets presented in November, pass in December and still by January you still cannot see the paper flooded with advertisements pertaining to contract works,” he said with sense of disappointment.
Cognizant of the systematic problems, Minister Jordan Government is moving with haste to address them. He disclosed that Government will be hiring a Chief Planning Officer. That Officer has been identified and is expected to take up his post by July, 2017. Additionally, a National Planning Institution will be reestablished with assistance from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
“With this planning institution, we are hoping that , just like in Jamaica, we can have some kind of central projects body so that it doesn’t impose these undue demands when you go at these little unit levels,” he explained.
Zooming in on projects funded by external sources, Minister Jordan said the Government of India has been very supportive.
Since entering office, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Government has secured funding from India for a number of projects including the US$50M East Coast- East Bank Demerara road, US$4M for pumps, US$10M for a North West District ferry and US$17.5 million for the modernization of three health care facilities.
“India has been very good with their approvals,” he posited while expressed Government’s appreciation.
However, he said while Government is thankful for the assistance, the requirement that all projects funded by India must have Indian contractors and consultants, have been proven to be a stumbling block.
We are experiencing grave problems in getting movement, traction in getting these contractors on board,” he emphasized.
It was pointed out that more than a year after securing a US$50M line of credit for the East Coast/East Bank Road Linkage Project from the Exim Bank of India, Guyana is yet to see the project materialize.
“…it is not our fault; we are trying desperately to find contractors,” he told reporters.
It was explained that the Government has been experiencing serious challenges in soliciting the services of contractors from India, for the execution of projects such as the US$50M road project. It was posited that while US$50M may be a significant sum in Guyana, in it is rather small in India, as such little interest is being shown by the contractors there.
Additionally, he said the situation has been compounded by a new Procurement and Tendering System which has been implemented in Indian. Based on his consultations with the Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, “persons are still getting familiar with.”
The APNU+ AFC Government remains hopeful that solutions will be derived at soon to allow for full execution of the projects. “We will have to find creative ways to get around this.”