ON Saturday evening, the Ministry of Public Works issued a vacancy notice for the positions of General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC), as well as Plant Manager of the controversial Asphalt Plant located at Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara.
The DHBC position was previously held by Rawlston Adams, who had resigned following the revelations of an audit into the operations of the State-owned asphalt plant, which is a subsidiary of the DHBC. Apart from the gross mismanagement and reselling of government asphalt, the audit found that Adams had approved the purchase of an $897,000 bracelet for himself. Adams has since resigned and has commenced efforts to repay the State for the expensive gift.

Additionally, as a consequence of the reselling racket, at least six persons were fired from the Ministry of Public Works which has oversight for both the DHBC and the asphalt plant. Subject Minister, Juan Edghill, had declined to provide the names and designations of those who have since been dismissed.
In Saturday’s notice however, the ministry also invited suitably qualified applicants to fill the position of Plant Manager of the Asphalt Plant, a position once held by Troy Halley.
In its invitation to applicants, the ministry, in a prominent sub-heading, stressed on the agency’s accountability objective, which would see the DHBC manager acting only in accordance with regulations and guidelines set out by the agency’s Board of Directors.

“The board delegates responsibility for management and day-to-day operations to the General Manager and the authority to carry out these responsibilities in accordance with the direction and policies established by the board,” the notice read.
It further indicated the need for the DHBC official to collaborate with external auditors for the execution of audit exercises. Similar requirements were also laid out for the position of Plant Manager. The plant, along with the DHBC was placed under the microscope following allegations of corruption highlighted in the local press in September 2020. A team of experts was assembled, and an investigation commenced into the operations of the plant. The probe examined all dealings at the plant for the period 2013-2020. The investigation was wrapped up in

December last, and the findings were submitted to Minister Edghill on December 30.
Meanwhile, the investigations brought into focus, the issue of gift-giving at the then Ministry of Public Infrastructure. As auditors dug deeper, it was found that the former DHBC head was not the only person drawing down on big gifts. As a matter of fact, the gift-giving scandal allegedly extended to the former subject ministers, David Patterson and Annette Ferguson, both of whom reportedly benefitted from millions of dollars’ worth of personal gifts that were paid for by government agencies under their remit, and by extension, taxpayers’ monies. The police have been called in and the scandal remains under investigation.