Agri Minister says works underway on pump station controversially awarded to Tepui
Guyana
– despite serious complaint before procurement commission
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha on Wednesday announced that works had started on January 30th on the Belle Vue Pump station controversially awarded to the company, Tepui despite the fact that serious complaints have been made about its ineligibility for the task.
The Sunday Stabroek on Friday visited the West Demerara location but saw no sign of works being conducted.
Mustapha made the announcement to the Committee of Supply last week Wednesday during the consideration of estimates on the 2024 budget for the Ministry of Agriculture. This was following requests for updates by APNU+AFC MP Ganesh Mahipaul, on the delayed pump stations.
Communications Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, Janelle Cameron, when contacted on the project, stated that she would have to check with the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) for an update. She later referred the Sunday Stabroek to the Head of the NDIA, Lionel Wordsworth but up to press time there had been no word from him.
Works were originally slated to begin on June 27, 2023, after the $865 million Belle Vue pump station contract was awarded to the Tepui Group Inc.
This however, attracted the attention of APNU+AFC MPs Mahipaul and David Patterson, who argued that the contract awardee did not meet the standard evaluation criteria for bidders.
Patterson, who is the Shadow Minister of Public Works, told this newspaper on Wednesday that the Public Procurement Com-mission (PPC) which is tasked with investigating the controversial contract had held its statutory meeting on Thursday, January 11, but did not provide an update on the subject.
He posited that the Procurement Commission has been evading the subject for roughly the last six months.
The former minister asserted that his decision to take legal action against the commission for dereliction of responsibilities and inaction concerning this matter of public interest is “unwavering.”
The Alliance for Change member recapped that it has been six months since the Procurement Commission vowed a thorough probe of the controversial pump station contract, but to date, nothing has come out of that investigation.
At a press conference held by his party in January of this year, Patterson said that in 2023 the PPC investigated 102 matters which were similar to contracts being awarded but did not meet the required evaluation criteria.
Contextually, Patterson said, the PPC can very well conduct a thorough investigation into the matter but chooses not to do so since the disputed company is led by social media commentator, Mikhail Rodrigues who has privileged access to Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.
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