Articles

War of words over gang contracts rages

Rowley fires back at Roodal

Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley says Op­po­si­tion MP Dr Roodal Mooni­lal is the on­ly known min­is­ter who was pho­tographed while pro­mot­ing gang busi­ness.

In a re­lease yes­ter­day, Row­ley fired back at Mooni­lal, who ac­cused the Gov­ern­ment of award­ing lu­cra­tive con­tracts to gang lead­ers, not­ing this in turn was un­der­min­ing the po­lice’s war against crim­i­nal gangs.

On Sun­day, Mooni­lal, the MP for Oropouche East, called on Row­ley to ter­mi­nate con­tracts with the gang lead­ers and take ac­tion against any min­is­ter who gave such con­tracts. He said Row­ley con­tin­ued to har­bour se­nior Gov­ern­ment Min­is­ters with known links to peo­ple be­fore the courts and oth­er al­leg­ed gang lead­ers.

Re­spond­ing to Mooni­lal, Row­ley said the Gov­ern­ment has been and con­tin­ues to fight crim­i­nal con­duct at every lev­el and will con­tin­ue to sup­port law en­force­ment in all their law­ful ef­forts to rid the coun­try of this scourge in all its forms.

“In re­sponse to the scan­dalous be­hav­iour of the UNC, a par­ty that has yet again been caught re­cruit­ing and pro­mot­ing crim­i­nals in the po­lit­i­cal process, Dr Roodal Mooni­lal ac­cus­es the Gov­ern­ment of award­ing lu­cra­tive con­tracts to un­savoury char­ac­ters.

“This com­ing from Dr Mooni­lal is laugh­ably hyp­o­crit­i­cal, since he is the on­ly known min­is­ter of any gov­ern­ment who used tax­pay­ers’ dol­lars to pay a pho­tog­ra­ph­er to fol­low him around to pho­to­graph and pro­mote him in these ac­tiv­i­ties and cur­rent­ly is the on­ly pho­to we have of any min­is­ter pro­mot­ing that for which he now says is an ac­tion which un­der­mines the ef­fort of the po­lice. What an epiphany!”

In 2013, Mooni­lal, then hous­ing and ur­ban de­vel­op­ment min­is­ter, was pho­tographed when shak­ing the hands of Ken­neth “Span­ish” Ro­driguez dur­ing a vis­it to the site of the Dun­can Street Po­lice Post, then still un­der con­struc­tion. On Mon­day, Ro­driguez, dubbed a com­mu­ni­ty leader, along with An­cel “Chemist” Vil­lafana, ap­peared be­fore Se­nior Mag­is­trate Cher­ril-Anne An­toine in the Port-of-Spain Mag­is­trates’ Court charged with mar­i­jua­na pos­ses­sion. They were picked up dur­ing the po­lice’s an­ti-gang op­er­a­tion last week.

In his re­sponse yes­ter­day, Row­ley said con­tracts are not award­ed by any min­is­ters in his Gov­ern­ment. He said that prac­tice was a fea­ture of the Peo­ple’s Part­ner­ship and was a ma­jor stim­u­lus to the ram­pant cor­rup­tion that was the hall­mark of their 2010-2015 tenure. Dur­ing this pe­ri­od, the PM said, min­is­ters even col­lect­ed the cheque pay­ments owed to con­trac­tors, who then had to bar­gain for the re­lease of such funds.

“Dr Mooni­lal more than any­one else knows that this Gov­ern­ment knows that. He al­so speaks self-right­eous­ly about the trou­ble­some is­sue of pet­ty crim­i­nals get­ting Gov­ern­ment con­tracts, but is ab­solute­ly silent on the pres­ence of crim­i­nals on the UNC po­lit­i­cal plat­form and in the Par­lia­ment.”

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Image:  richdubose0 (Pexels)

WASCO Clarifies Process For Dam Project

The Board of Directors at WASCO, has confirmed that the desilting of the John Compton Dam Project was done through a competitive bidding process.

Phase One was opened up to local contractors because WASCO was of the view that since Phase One entailed civil works, there were several local contractors with the capacity to construct the SDA. A local contractor was a successful competitive bidder.

Phase Two was opened to international competitive bidding in light of the highly technical skills required for the dredging component of the project. The tender process for Phase Two was also subject to oversight by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

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Image:  Tom Fisk (Pexels)

CDB increases disbursements by 20% in 2018

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) disbursed a record USD280 mn in project funding to its Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) in 2018, a 20% increase compared with 2017. The Bank disbursed USD233 mn in 2017 and USD206 mn in 2016.

Speaking at CDB’s Annual News Conference today, the Bank’s Director of Projects, Daniel Best highlighted factors contributing to this, in particular a CDB-led initiative to improve implementation at the country level.

“This significant improvement results from a combination of two factors. First is our continued investment in the training of public officers to assist our BMCs to implement projects faster. Second is the Bank’s ongoing review of policies and procedures to improve our responsiveness,” stated Best.

He provided a snapshot of the Bank’s results, outlining key projects, which were completed or under implementation across the Region in 2018.

The Director noted a road safety project in Belize, which resulted in road fatalities dropping from an average of 33 per year before the project, to a current average of less than eight per year.

In addition, he pointed out that more than 100,000 people in Guyana are now benefitting from a USD44 mn road project in West Coast Demerara, which has provided safer infrastructure, a wider corridor, improved drainage and new pedestrian and bicycle lanes.

In outlining the Bank’s work in 2018, the Director highlighted the increasing demand for energy-efficient street lighting across CDB’s BMCs, confirming that in Antigua and Barbuda, and Jamaica, 44,000 street lights have been replaced with energy-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) lights.

Education was also a significant focus area for CDB in 2018, with the Bank investing in training for principals, teachers and Ministry officials.

“Now educators across the Region are better equipped to deliver technical and vocational education and training, special needs education, competency-based education and training, psychosocial services, and health and family life education,” said Best.

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Image:  Ken Teegardin (flickr)

Streetlight, floodlight retrofit bids wanted

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis (GSKN) has received financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in an amount equivalent to US $5,792,000 toward the cost of the Street and Flood Light Retrofitting Project.

A part of the funds to cover eligible payments will be applied under the Agreement. Payment by CDB only at the request of GSKN and upon approval by CDB. They will be subject, in all respects, to the terms and conditions of the Loan Agreement.

The Loan Agreement prohibits a withdrawal from the Loan Account for the purpose of any payment to persons or entities, or for any import of goods, if such payment or import, to the knowledge of CDB, is prohibited by a decision of the United Nations Security Council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.

No party other than GSKN shall derive any rights from the Loan Agreement or have any claim to the proceeds of the Loan.
The Ministry of Sustainable Development, Project Management Unit, now invites sealed bids from eligible and qualified bidders to supply of LED floodlights for St. Kitts and Nevis.

Consideration will be limited to firms or joint ventures of firms which are legally incorporated or otherwise organised in, and have their principal place of business in an eligible country and are either:

(a) more than 50 percent beneficially-owned by a citizen or citizens and/or bona fide resident or residents of an eligible country, or by a body corporate or bodies corporate meeting these requirements; or

(b) owned or controlled by the government of an eligible country provided that it is legally and financially autonomous and operated under the commercial law of an eligible country and otherwise meets the eligibility requirements of the CDB Guidelines for Procurement (2006).

There are no restrictions on eligibility. Eligible bidders will be required to submit full qualification information with their bids establishing their eligibility to bid and qualification to perform the contract if the bid is accepted.
Tender and qualification information are to be submitted in the English Language on the prescribed forms inserted in the Bid Documents. Submissions that do not provide the information required or that do not demonstrate the prospective contractor’s ability to perform satisfactorily, will not qualify and will not be considered for further evaluation.

Bid documents will be available for inspection at the first address below, on week days between 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Requests for a complete set of bidding documents may be made by personal application or in writing either in hardcopy or via e-mail. Written applications must be clearly marked: “Request for Bid Documents for the Supply of LED Flood Lights for St. Kitts and Nevis – Street and Flood Light Retrofitting Project.”

Applicants who request that documents be forwarded in hardcopy to them must submit an account number from a local courier agent that accepts freight collect charges. The documents will be promptly dispatched, but under no circumstance will GSKN or the Project Management Unit, Ministry of Sustainable Development, be held responsible for late delivery, loss or damage to the documents.

Hard copies of bids with related sample must be submitted in sealed envelopes, with the name and address of the bidder, and be clearly marked “Tender for Supply of LED Flood Lights for St. Kitts and Nevis – Street and Flood Light Retrofitting Project” and must be delivered to the second address below no later than March 27, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. (St. Kitts and Nevis time).

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Image:  Tookapic (Pexels)

Removal, processing of derelict vessels

RESS RELEASE: The Virgin Islands Recovery and Development Agency (RDA) – a statutory Agency established by the Government of the Virgin Islands with the purpose of ensuring the timely and proper implementation and execution of the Recovery to Development Plan of the Virgin Islands; is diligently making arrangements for the safe removal and disposal of approximately 200 (subject to change) derelict vessels which remain stranded along the coastlines and bays of the British Virgin Islands following the passage of hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

These vessels have no remaining value and are to be treated as waste. They will be removed from their current locations to a Staging Area, for further processing and eventual disposal/recycling. This is the act of stripping all metals, batteries, woods, hazardous material, fuels and oil, and fibreglass and separating into waste streams for appropriate disposal/recycling. Works will be undertaken in adherence to an Environmental Management Plan.

RDA’s Response

A formal invitation to tender (ITT) will be issued by the RDA inviting both local and international interested parties to submit tenders for these works. Due to the size, complexity and estimated budget for this activity, it is a requirement of the RDA’s Procurement Policy and General Procurement Procedures to open this business opportunity to local as well as international participation.

Tenders will be invited mainly for the removal and transportation of the derelict vessels as well as the processing of these vessels at the staging area. Interested parties will be able to bid on one, many or all the Work Packages.

This business opportunity (for local and international participation) will address the removal and processing of derelict vessels in the following areas Work Packages:

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Image:  Gary Scott (Pixabay)