All contracts will be scrutinised – New Public Works Minister

 Aug 06, 2020  News 1 Comment

New Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill

“We are not gonna allow the skullduggery of yesteryear to continue,” was the sentiment expressed by Guyana’s newly appointed Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill.He announced that his office will be fully scrutinizing the multi-million dollar contracts awarded by the previous administration.
Edghill told Kaieteur News: “We are gonna operate in a very responsible, principle and accountable manner.”
“Tomorrow I get to my desk, I expect to be briefed. I expect to have full disclosure from all of the officers responsible and when we see what is there, we will take the necessary actions but you could be assured that everything that we do, will be for the public good, protecting the public purse, and to ensure that there is transparency in what takes place,” he said.
While he noted that his office will be delving into all of the contracts that were awarded since January 2019 to current, special attention will be paid to those big name contracts awarded in 2020 where there was no budgetary allocation to capital projects.
“So we will be reviewing all of that on a case-by-case basis,” the new Public Works Minister said.

Of special interest, Edghill, a former Junior Minister of Finance, pointed out that the $352 million contract awarded to Brian Tiwari for the construction of rip-rap sea defences at Content, Mahaicony; the transfer of a key piece of water front property to B.K. Marine Incorporated; and the $587 million contract for the procurement of eight bucket trucks to conduct maintenance works for the state-run Guyana Power and Light (GPL), will be receiving special scrutiny to ensure that taxpayers’ dollars were not squandered.
“People have no appetite for fighting, witch-hunting and we also have no appetite whatsoever for squandering the public purse. So, my intention is to be very principled, pragmatic, and protect the public good and the public purse.”

I think this is fair. Nagamootoo acknowledged on the night of December 21, 2018 that the Coalition government has fallen via the successful passage of the NCM. Effective immediately after that was every single one minister would be resigned with only a caretaker president in place so everyone who completed contracts after December 2018 were doing so at their own peril. Those government officers who participated in these transactions should also be brought to justice for their actions. Guyana needs to begin holding people responsible for their actions and now is as good a time as any to start.

I agree. All contracts by the caretaker government must be scrutinized carefully. Any evidence of money being passed under the table should be dealt with according to law.