–AG urges citizens ahead of anticipated economic boom

WITH Guyana anticipating massive infrastructural development as the country continues its economic ascension, Attorney-General, Anil Nandlall, S.C., has said that citizens must act as the ‘gatekeepers’ of quality and value for money by reporting substandard work done by contractors.
Nandlall, in an invited comment, noted that the passage of Budget 2021- Guyana’s largest budget- has cleared the way for there to be a large quantity of capital projects, some of which are already being awarded by the National Procurement and Tender Administration board, in accordance with the Procurement Act.
The awarding of those contracts will result in significant economic activities throughout the length and breadth of Guyana, the Attorney-General said, adding that these projects will provide a fillip to the country’s economy, as there will be projects ongoing in various communities nationwide.
It is for this reason that he is pleading with residents of those communities to report errant contractors who refuse to incorporate the materials reflected on the Bill of Quantities for the contract in the execution of their work.

He is urging citizens to equip themselves with a copy of the Bill of Quantities and compare the work being executed and the materials being utilised by the contractors to what is stated on the document.
Nandlall noted that a clerk of works and supervisor or engineer, who is a representative of the government, should be present at the site where the contract is being executed, and if persons notice any deficiencies in the execution of the work they should bring it to the attention of the officials on site.
“If you see silverballi being used instead of greenheart and greenheart is what the Bill of Quantities has, then you have to make that public, publish it on Facebook, talk to the clerk of works, call in the media, make contact with the minister or someone in authority and we will get down there to correct that.
“At the level of the government we will continue to hold contractors strictly to their contractual obligations and we will continue to demand from them, work of a high quality… we are not going to accept substandard work,” Nandlall affirmed.

NECESSARY ACTION
The Attorney-General further said that contractors who fail to perform work of exemplary standard will have their contracts revoked, and will be sued accordingly.
“They will have to compensate the government for the loss of time on the project, for liquidated damages and for the various heads of compensation that are available at law. We are not going to waste time this time around with delinquent and errant contractors,” Nandlall posited.
Further, with a large quantity of contracts available for various types of work, Nandlall noted that the government is implementing provisions to ensure that small and new contractors benefit as much as large contractors.
“We want everyone to get a piece of the pie, and that is why we are amending or we have amended the procurement rules and we are amending the protocols to create a more level playfield so that new contractors and small contractors can have a fair chance of bidding,” he said.

Further, the Attorney-General said: “We have relaxed certain requirements, we have restructured certain language in the procurement regulations and protocols to allow for smaller contractors and new contractors to break into the industry… we have enough work for every contractor.”
Nandlall also appealed to larger contractors to subcontract works to smaller contractors within the communities where works are being executed, to allow for small and new contractors to benefit from projects as well.
“We want everyone to benefit from this upward stride that the economy will be taking in the next few weeks and it will galvanise into greater speeds as the year progresses,” the Attorney-General said.