the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute
| Concerns are being expressed over a multi-million dollar contract for a water well being dug at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara and which has been left abandoned for several months now.Grass has taken over the area of the well, which is located at the compound of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA), with residents and workers alike not sure what is happening.The new well was supposed to serve residents of the Mon Repos area, GLDA and its sister agencies – the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA).Grass has taken over this well being dug at the compound of GLDA, Mon Repos.All of these agencies fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture.On Friday, GLDA’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Dindyal Permaul, admitted that there have been delays with the construction of the water well which started last year.The contract was awarded to B.K. International last year, and is part of a number of other wells being dug by that firm across the country. The wells all fall under a program of the Ministry of Housing and Water.Permaul disclosed that the contractor was having difficulties with materials for the well arriving on time. The well is to be dug up to 250 feet with the contract costing Government at least $75M. Permaul said that the contractor may have started work on other wells and this was also causing the delay.The official said that it is the intention for the well, when completed, to serve several facilities at the GLDA and NAREI, including fish farms, labs, other farms and the GSA.According to Permaul, it is still the hope that the well will be completed this year.The delay of the well and the concerns voiced by residents over Government contracts and its supervision are nothing new.Government itself has admitted that there are too few contractors in Guyana. There have also been criticisms of poor supervision, especially in the areas of roads.There have also been questions about the quality of the Government supervisors who are supposed to overlook the progress of the works, ensuring that Guyana receives value for money.There have also been accusations of corruption in the awarding of the contracts, with insiders’ knowledge of the bids being cited. However, Government has defended the system of procurement, saying it has one of the best systems in the Region.Under standard contracts, Government can move to penalize construction firms for late delivery of or poor quality of work.But there has not been much word on whether it has established systems to blacklist contractors or how successful moves have been to recover penalties.In April 2010, the Cabinet of the Government, through the Ministry of Housing and Water and the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) gave its no-objection for four contracts to drill wells. These included one at Canefield, East Canje, for $89M; one at Tatabinga, Region Nine for $77M; another for Mon Repos for $89M with one at Good Hope for $69M. |
