British Virgin Islands
Some $20 million are expected to be directed towards planned road works across the territory.
However, no timeline has been given for the completion of these projects.
This is according to Acting Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Communications and Works, Jovita Scatliffe, who told the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) that the Ministry is fully cognisant of the deplorable state of the territory’s road infrastructure.
The SFC is a body chaired by the House of Assembly (HOA) Speaker to examine the budget document head by head. Accounting Officers are invited to explain and rationalise their budget submissions and answer any questions HOA members may have.
Some of the areas identified for development include the Joe’s Hill Road and drainage; Fort Hill Road and drainage; Fat Hogs Bay to Paraquita Bay road rehabilitation; Parham Town to Long Swamp road rehabilitation; Anegada, Jost Van Dyke road extension; and Virgin Gorda road rehabilitation, among others.
Scatliffe said the Ministry continues to add several projects at various stages of planning, procurement and implementation to remedy the conditions of the infrastructure that affect the daily lives of businesses and visitors alike.
The PS further stated that due to the rainy season, roads continue to be a problem because of poor drainage and substandard road construction to which numerous complaints have been lodged.
Optimistically, Scatliffe explained that the Ministry believes that once the new asphalt plant is commissioned early this year, it would instantly help reduce the cost of rehabilitating the roads and eventually lead to an enhanced road network territory-wide.
In the meantime, the Ministry is also seeking to complete a third lane along Waterfront Drive, which would extend from McNamara junction to the Road Town ferry terminal. Plans are reportedly underway to tender this project for completion in 2023.
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Belize
Ву Ааrоn Нumеѕ: Міnіѕtеr оf Неаlth, Кеvіn Веrnаrd, hаѕ guаrаntееd uѕ thаt “іn thіѕ nеw уеаr, wе ѕhоuldn’t bе tаlkіng аbоut ѕhоrtаgеѕ” оf drugѕ аnd mеdісаl ѕuррlіеѕ, duе рrіnсіраllу tо vаrіоuѕ rеfоrmѕ.
Іn rеѕроnѕе tо оur quеrу аѕ tо whаt thе Міnіѕtrу wаѕ dоіng tо аddrеѕѕ ѕhоrtаgеѕ thаt саuѕеd nurѕеѕ аnd dосtоrѕ tо рublісlу соmрlаіn lаѕt уеаr, thе Міnіѕtеr rеmіndеd uѕ thаt fіghtіng thе СОVІD-19 раndеmіс hаd tаkеn рrіоrіtу, аnd іn thе Unіtеd Ѕtаtеѕ аnd mаnу оthеr соuntrіеѕ, рrоduсtіоn оf оthеr drugѕ wаѕ hаltеd оr еvеn еndеd іn fаvоur оf ѕhіftіng rеѕоurсеѕ tо рrоduсіng СОVІD-19 vассіnеѕ аnd оthеr trеаtmеntѕ.
Тhеrе іѕ nоw а wоrldwіdе dеmаnd аѕ hеаlth ѕеrvісеѕ fullу rеореn. Тhе рrосеѕѕеѕ tо rеfоrm drug рrосurеmеnt ѕtаrtеd undеr Місhеl Сhеbаt аnd nоw thе fіnаl ѕtерѕ аrе іn рlасе tо nоt оnlу рrоvіdе tіmеlу ассеѕѕ tо mеdісаtіоnѕ but tо еnѕurе thаt thе Drug Іnѕресtоrаtе іnѕресtѕ аnd dесlаrеѕ ѕаfе аll drugѕ bеіng іmроrtеd fоr соnѕumрtіоn.
Тhе Міnіѕtеr аlѕо tоld uѕ thаt а nеw Сеntrаl Меdісаl Ѕtоrе іѕ bеіng рlаnnеd tо hоuѕе аll рhаrmасеutісаlѕ аnd mеdісаl ѕuррlіеѕ, аnd сrеаtе аn іntеrnаl іnvеntоrу аnd dеlіvеrу ѕуѕtеm tо оvеrѕее dіѕtrіbutіоn аnd mаnаgеmеnt. Не ехрlаіnеd thе сurrеnt соmрlісаtеd ѕуѕtеm аnd hоw іt wіll bе ѕіmрlіfіеd. “Сurrеntlу whаt іѕ dоnе, ѕuррlіеrѕ рrосurе thrоugh thе tеndеr; ѕоmе оf thеm hаvе tо hоld thеѕе іtеmѕ іn thеіr оwn wаrеhоuѕіng, wе rеquеѕt whеnеvеr [wе nееd] аnd wе rеquіѕіtіоn аnd thеу ѕеnd іt оut tо thе vаrіоuѕ rеgіоnѕ – wе wаnt tо сhаngе thаt. Wе wаnt tо еnѕurе thаt іt’ѕ аll hоuѕеd аt оnе lосаtіоn, thаt іѕ tо іmрrоvе еffісіеnсу, thеrе іѕ рrореr mоnіtоrіng, thеrе іѕ thе ассоuntаbіlіtу оf thе рhаrmасеutісаlѕ аnd mеdісаl ѕuррlіеѕ wе hаvе thеrе. Аll оf thіѕ іѕ tо іmрrоvе оn whаt wаѕ аlrеаdу thеrе.”
Тhе Міnіѕtеr аddеd thаt thеіr рlаnѕ tаkе іntо ассоunt ѕuррlу сhаіn іѕѕuеѕ аnd оthеr сіrсumѕtаnсеѕ thаt mау іmрасt dеlіvеrу. Рrіоrіtіеѕ іnсludе trеаtmеntѕ fоr саnсеr, НІV аnd оthеr nоn-соmmunісаblе dіѕеаѕеѕ.
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Guyana
As it endeavours to assist its over 300 members to attain the requisite compliances and so tap into procurement opportunities in both the public and private sectors, the Black Entrepreneurs Association (BEA) of Guyana will be meeting with a number of ministries and business organisations in the first quarter of this year.
Already, the organisation has met with the Ministry of Public Works and says that after the debate and passage of the 2023 Budget, it plans to reach out to other ministries and agencies of government.
“Yesterday [Thursday] we met with the Ministry of Public Works…we had a really good meeting with Minister [Juan] Edghill. Our 2022 goal was to help our members to be compliant and business ready, and working with our membership, so that they can venture out into getting contracts and partnerships and so forth,” BEA Executive and spokesperson, Melissa Varswyk, told Stabroek News in an interview.
She explained that since the body’s formation in 2020, they have over 300 members and of those, over 85 per cent are compliant with regulatory requirements for their respective businesses, especially geared for the oil and gas services. “Our members have their NIS, they have their GRA, their bank accounts and business licences and things like that. A sizeable amount already have their Local Content Certificate.”
The BEA currently has 300 registered members in Guyana and 300 in the UK chapter.
When it met with President Irfaan Ali in 2021, the association highlighted that it is committed to creating a blueprint for black-owned businesses, which creates inter-generational wealth while transforming the business economy and community.
After its formation, and realising that the main gripe of black-owned businesses was that they were not getting contracts, or were not able to form partnerships and get access to financing, the BEA set out its plan which prioritised equipping its members.
The BEA has set down a number of overall goals and targets for the organisation and has further divided them into long and short term goals.
“It is a continuous process but in 2021 we had training and workshops and so forth where we taught our membership various things. Help to equip them with the knowledge so that they can venture out to get contracts and partnerships and secure grants and so forth,” Varswyk explained.
Holding hands with the many start-up, small- and medium-sized businesses, Varswyk said now that they are compliant, the body wants them to learn firsthand what is required from public and private sector bodies for procurement.
“We want to help them to scale their businesses, finding finance and marketing and public relations et cetera. We want to see how they do and help them go through a procurement process, bid correctly, and get contracts. This is not only agencies of government and ministries but also with the private sector. We want to tap into the private sector arena where there is the oil and gas and so forth.”
“So we will be reaching out to meet more ministries and agencies throughout the months. We know it is budget period but after that we will continue with more ministries, reaching out to get more insight into their procurement and hear what are the opportunities there,” she added.
The Ministry of Public Works was one of the first ministries that was contacted by the BEA, since it holds the lion’s share of capital projects. Varsawyk said that on Wednesday a request was sent to the ministry and they got a swift reply informing them that the Minister would meet with them on Thursday if they were available.
She disclosed that at that meeting, it was explained early on that the association was not there to complain about not getting contracts, but to find out from the ministry how it may access contracts and what were the processes and documentation needed.
Pitfalls
“It was not about complaining. We need to stop the complaining aspect of things and just be persistent and go after our goals. That is the approach we are taking. We did not go there to complain or anything like that. We said ‘we have challenges in getting contracts, a lot of them are new to the space and want to get into the procurement aspect of thing. So what is it that the ministry is offering, in terms of procurement [and] what is that like here? What are the pitfalls that relates to people not being qualified? And questions like that,” she noted.
Minister of Public Works Edghill came in for high praise from the BEA. The attendees noted that he went through “the pains” of pointing out some of the “dos and don’ts and pitfalls” so as to prevent the small businesses from “falling through on the bidding.”
Edghill, she said, promised to have a follow up with the group, where he will make the ministry’s procurement team accessible to them and conduct a training session. “After the budget debate, contractors will have a training session with the procurement team there and go through the processes. They will learn how to fill out the different forms and how to apply during the pre-qualification processes and things like that.”
The Ministry had publicised that it had had a courtesy visit from some members of the Black Entrepreneurs Association. “The visiting group of mainly businessmen and women, contractors, and engineers, are interested in bidding for Government contracts in the area of Infrastructure. The group sought audience with the Minister to discuss opportunities under the Ministry of Public Works, and in particular the procurement process. To this end, Minister Edghill has committed to ensuring a familiarization/training session on the subject, to take place soon,” the Ministry statement said.
Edghill told this newspaper that the ministry wants maximum participation from all groups, especially small businesses and recognises the importance of having them trained.
Training and assisting in how to bid, the Minister said, was nothing new for his ministry as it was open to facilitating persons vying for government contracts, as was the case when he met with persons from the Buxton, East Coast of Demerara community and had done the same.
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Guyana
Engineers from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) are currently working to put systems in place to relieve the intrusion of river water at the Princess Street Sluice in Georgetown.
Minister of Agriculture, Honourable Zulfikar Mustapha, after receiving reports of issues at the structure resulting in several buildings around the Princess Street area being affected, conducted a site visit to determine the cause.
The minister noted that after speaking with engineers on the ground it was disclosed that the issues faced at the koker were a result of faulty work by the contractor.
Last August, Square Commodities signed a contract for just over $11.6 million with the NDIA for the fabrication and installation of a stainless-steel door at the Princess Street Sluice.
The contract was tendered and awarded to the company following a public bidding process in keeping with legal stipulations set out by the Government of Guyana through the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).
Minister Mustapha while expressing his disappointment said that situations like these should never occur
“We went through a very transparent process with these contracts. The company submitted bids and was awarded the contract based on their submission. Today, when we are having very good weather, people are being affected because of faulty work by the contractor. The government is now put in a position to create a solution because we have been entrusted with taking care of the welfare of all citizens of the country. This is the first time we’ve worked with this company and as minister, I am very dissatisfied. When we took office, we made it clear that we want everyone to be given a fair chance to work with the government and receive contracts but if you are not experienced or have experienced people working with you, you may find yourself in a similar situation and we do not take these situations lightly,” he noted.
He further stated that the NDIA has since been advised to terminate the contract and award an emergency contract to a company with more experience.
NDIA’s Chief Executive Officer (ag) Dave Hicks and Senior Engineer, Timothy Innis are currently on the ground monitoring the situation.
Affected areas will be drained during the next low tide later in the afternoon while works are ongoing to stop the intrusion from the Demerara River. Engineers from the NDIA will also be monitoring the structure on a 24-hour basis.
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