SENIOR officials of Region Six (East Berbice- Corentyne) on Thursday signed off on contracts for the provision of security services and infrastructural works in the region valued at over $1B.
The contracts were awarded to four contractors, namely: Queensway Security Service Inc., the sum of $988,786,754 for the provision of security services to the Regional Democratic Council (all public buildings); Shaffeeullah Sawmill, the sum of $31.4M for the rehabilitation of the Number 63 Beach entrance; Premium Asphalt, $28.7M for the rehabilitation of the Number 61 Beach entrance; and N and S General Engineering and Contracting Services, $14.8M for the extension of the Berbice High School.
Additionally, a 13-seater bus, valued some $4.4 M, was handed over to the region’s Regional Health Services. The contracts were signed in the boardroom of the Regional Democratic Council, at its Vrymen’s Ervin, New Amsterdam, East Berbice office.

According to Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall the four contracts and the bus collectively represent one-sixths of the budget for Region Six, and that the signing of them publicly is in keeping with the government’s position on transparency in the award of contracts.
“Today is quite significant in the life of the government in Region Six, and by that I mean the way that we are conducting ourselves is with the highest level of accountability and transparency. And that is why you find us doing this activity in such a public way,” Minister Dharamlall said, adding: “As you would note, since we have taken government, a lot of ministers of government and officials of the government, have been spending time in the fields, and on different project sites, to ensure projects are implemented the way we would like them implemented, and executed to the specifications of the contract, and to the expectations of the people where these
contracts are executed.”

That said, he charged the contractors and engineers to ensure that payments and critical deductions to The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) are made in accordance with the laws, and in a timely manner.
“We are going to transform the country; as a matter of fact, we have more projects now, and we will have more projects in the future than we have contractors,” Minister Dharamlall said, adding: “And I can tell you this: In the regional system, I run all 10 regions, and we will have more work than we have contractors for. We also have space for people to do quality work, and we have more space for additional persons to come onboard. So, you should also see this as a form of open competition; and you have been able to get these contracts, as you have gotten others. So just make sure you do justice to the Bills of Quantities.”
The Local Government Ministry has intensified the monitoring of projects, and has resumed the public placement of unpriced Bill of Quantities at the project site, or within the project area, so that residents and NDCs can see what the scope of works entails and help to monitor the projects and contractors.