Jamaica
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, on Friday (October 29) launched the Victoria Palm housing development, which will provide sustainable, climate-resilient housing solutions for residents of Western Kingston.
It will benefit persons experiencing economic challenges, which would preclude them from formal home ownership.
The project, to be undertaken in three components, will involve construction of single, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units; upgrading/construction of infrastructure for multi-family housing arrangements on land parcels (tenement yards); and temporary relocation of the approximately 200 beneficiaries for the duration of the development period.
Residents will be able to access formal titles for their respective units.
Prime Minister Holness said that the initiative forms part of the Government’s commitment to provide 70,000 affordable housing solutions to the people of Jamaica.
“The Government is moving ahead with its commitment towards the 70,000 new housing solutions… . In that 70,000 there is a house there for you. We believe that good shelter is a right and we are going to do everything in our power to ensure that you can benefit from one of these shelter solutions,” he told the residents.
Minister of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr. said that the initiative is an example of the Government redefining its approach to providing shelter solutions to ensure they are more accessible, affordable and climate resilient.
“We are working to reinvigorate our urban centres in order to achieve a balance between economic viability and environmental sustainability, in order to restore the environment, particularly in [areas] that are degraded, and reduce the impact of climate change, so that all of us can have an improved quality of life,” he said.
The virtual launch also featured the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by the participating Ministries – Local Government and Rural Development; Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change; and Economic Growth and Job Creation – and the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC).
Funding for the project will be provided through the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) Programme.
The development will see proper infrastructure being put in place such as water, sewerage, and electricity, as well as access to green spaces.
A needs assessment will be conducted, which will determine the appropriate unit allocation for beneficiaries. This will be followed by a rigourous procurement and review process prior to approval by an overview committee.
The tender process for the development project is now under way.
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Guyana
Amid lingering concerns by the United States (US) about the transparency and quality of Chinese-funded infrastructural projects, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has said Chinese loans are softer and that Guyana’s procurement process is “open”.
“We made it clear to everyone. No financing from anybody comes with political strings but Chinese financing has been readily available to the world and we believe, like the rest of the region, we have to explore friends and partners from every part of the world,” he told a news conference on Monday. Mr. Jagdeo cited efforts to obtain 103 million Euros from Austria for the construction of a children and maternal hospital but Guyana would have had to deduct 13 million Euros immediately as an “upfront fee” and repay that along with the requirement to use one of their pre-approved contractors. He said India and the United States stipulate that contractors from those countries be used.
His comments were made on Monday, the same day that government announced that China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) has been approved to build the new Demerara Harbour Bridge at a cost of US$256, 638,289 and that China Railway Group Limited has been selected to open negotiations for the design-build-finance of the 165 megawatt hydropower plant at Amaila Falls.
Vice President Jagdeo said Guyana would explore “every source of financing” and make decisions based on the best offers based on an “open” process by America, British, Chinese and other companies. “We have to build the bridge, we have to build the hydro and we went through an open process. That is what we committed to. We committed to open processes,” he said.
The seven-member National Procurement and Tender Administration Board includes two candidates of the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC), Gloria Beharry and Steve Ninvalle. Mr. Desmond Mohammed had previously served in the top management of the then Guyana Broadcasting Corporation.
Chief Executive Officer of the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Adam Boehler had said, during a visit to Guyana in October, 2020, that the American government was keen on winning competitive bids, and delivering quality infrastructure built by local labour. “Our focus on high quality projects and local labour to drive those.”
A number of Chinese projects such as the Skeldon Sugar Factory, Arthur Chung Conference Centre and the Marriott-branded state-owned hotel has had some defects. “I know there have been some disappointments here. I will tell you that may not always be the quickest but I will commit to be the best with a focus on high quality infrastructure but, no! that we are supportive of whoever comes out as long as the bid is competitive, open, transparent and there is a focus on high quality, long term investment in Guyana,” he had said.
The DFC has US$60 billion to invest in globally.
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Jamaica
Justice was delayed but not denied is how Mark Rodney, former Special Projects Manager at the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), described his nine-year wait which ended on Thursday in his acquittal by the Court of Appeal.
He said he was happy to be vindicated but was going to pursue legal actions against the State.
“A travesty of justice, a most egregious wrong,” said Rodney as he outlined the challenges he faced while waiting to get justice.
One of his regrets is that his mother who came from the United States to give him moral support did not live to see him being freed of the convictions.
She died of a heart attack in 2017.
Yesterday, Rodney, who was convicted in 2016 of breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act and breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act, was successful in his appeal against his convictions.
The sentence, which amounted to fines totalling $5.6 million, was set aside.
The Crown, which was represented by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Maxine Jackson, conceded that there was nothing in the evidence which supported the allegations or subsequent convictions by the parish judge.
The Court of Appeal then ruled that the appeal was allowed, conviction quashed and sentences set aside.
Disbelief
Rodney said he cannot come to terms as to how charges were brought against him when he did nothing wrong.
He pointed out that the case against him dragged on for four years in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court before he was convicted.
While employed to the NSWMA, Rodney was accused of approving and awarding contracts totalling just over $12 million to a company of which he was a shareholder.
It was alleged that he bypassed the tender process and failed to disclose his interest in the company.
However, it was disclosed in the parish court that the contracts all went through a tender process prior to approval by a procurement committee, of which he was not a member.
He said he had also disclosed in writing to the committee that he had an interest in the company and fulfilled all requirements under the law.
The letter was in the hand of the prosecution before his trial, he disclosed.
“Therefore, the decision of the prosecution to prosecute and the further guilty verdict by the parish court is very curious and quite perplexing,” said Rodney.
Struggle
Rodney, in outlining the challenges he faced, said the company of which he was a shareholder folded because of the charges brought against him.
The Assets Recovery Agency got court orders freezing his assets.
He had young children at the time and his family was also affected, he added.
He bemoaned the fact that although he was on bail prior to his conviction, the parish judge would not give him bail for even 24 hours to access money to pay the fine.
He is grateful to family and friends who assisted to pay the fine so he could be on bail pending his appeal.
Two years after his conviction, the transcript of his trial was not available and Rodney had to write to Chief Justice Bryan Sykes in September 2018 about the issue.
Two months later, the transcript was ready and Rodney said he is grateful for Sykes’ intervention.
He also had praises for Queen’s Counsel Walter Scott who handled his appeal and Queen’s Counsel Peter Champagnie who represented him at his trial.
He said the two lawyers always encouraged and assured him that he had a good case on appeal.
He said he admired prosecutor Jackson for the stance she took.
Asked what will be his next move, Rodney said he is going to sue the State for wrongful prosecution, for the suffering he endured as well as for the handling of the issue by the Assets Recovery Agency.
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Guyana
Following the evaluation of tenders for the construction of the New Demerara Harbour Bridge, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) has submitted the lowest responsive bid and pending successful negotiations with government, will be building the anticipated structure.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday announced that Cabinet had received and noted the recommendation of the company from the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board. However in a subsequent press release, the Ministry of Finance announced that Cabinet has granted its no-objection to the Ministry of Public Works to engage CSCEC to build the New Harbour Bridge.
Sources told this newspaper that the company still has to first accept the award and complete negotiations with government on design type and model for the project to go ahead.
Those negotiations will commence when President Irfaan Ali returns from Glasgow, Scotland, where he is attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference – COP 26.
Stabroek News understands that during the evaluation of bids for the project, CSCEC scored highest for its submission of a bridge that it will design, finance, and build. Guyana, it was explained by a source, would have to operate the crossing.
When the bids were opened two weeks ago, it was revealed that five companies, including four from China, submitted financial proposals. A local company, Boskalis Guyana Inc, an affiliate of the Dutch offshore contractor and maritime services provider, did not present a bid in favour of the project.
Jagdeo yesterday explained that the company did not withdraw from the bidding process but “submitted a bid for a tunnel instead of a bridge. So that was the issue.”
The bidding document had specified the criteria for making a bid on the project. It stipulated that bidders present proposals for a Design, Build and Finance (DBF) option, or alternatively, Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Maintain (DBFOM).
The Scope of Works in the design/build contract included the complete design and construction of a two-lane dual (four-lane) carriageway, hybrid cable-stayed centre-span bridge with concrete box/T-beam girder approach bridge structures, and must include bridge collision protection, a navigation span to accommodate Handymax vessel navigation aids, lighting, signage, and all other ancillary works, an access road with a minimum of 50 meters up to abutments, toll-collection buildings and ancillary buildings on the West Bank of the Demerara River.
When completed, government wants a new four-lane, high-span fixed bridge in the vicinity of the current location and which terminates at Nandy Park on the East Bank of Demerara. “The new design of the Demerara Harbour Bridge will not require opening or retraction to allow for maritime traffic and will be built with a life span of at least 50 years,” the bidding document states.
Government has said that it may have to acquire those lands which fall into the path of the new location which terminates at Nandy Park on the east bank and La Grange on the west bank, but a decision on that matter has not yet been made.
Ali had said that the new bridge would be a very high one, standing at a minimum of 50 metres or as high as or higher than the Marriott Hotel, to facilitate the clearance for vessels.
CSCEC, in its tender document, pegged the cost for the construction of the bridge at US$256,638,289.
There has been a major controversy over the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency not to require an Environmental Impact Assessment for the project. This decision has been appealed and the Environmental Assessment Board has to give a date on when it will come up for hearing.
After the signing of the contract this year, the selected contractor will design and build the bridge, which has a two-year “non-negotiable” completion deadline.
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Guyana
The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) award of a $346 million contract to a local entity totally inexperienced in construction reveals the state of this country. Meaning, the operation of the minds of Guyana’s political leaders, and those in our institutions that ensure compliance with their dictates. It is pointless to create a stink about this, because tomorrow, there will be another outcome either at NPTAB or from some other agency or person of the state. It will confirm the essence of what I present today; possibly something more outrageous. I memorialize this coldly and clinically, but it should not mask the utter meaningless of most, if not all, of our state apparatus.
For starters, I congratulate the winners of the $346 million Bamia school contract on their good fortune, the power and fidelity of their political friends. Second, I thank the spokesperson for being truthful, which went something like this: we have not built anything, but we can manage money. In my own words, they build legacies. And now I go where this must, and leave the rest to observers, as to what we have for checks and balances, what we have for policies and procedures, and what we have for independence and integrity. The latter applies to anyone and anywhere that we desire to look, and to do so critically, but honestly.
For we have a ‘national tender board’ and this results. We have procuring entities and bodies, and I have arrived at this place: call off the charades, and do away with them. Officially. I say this because, whether tenderer or procurer, Guyanese have been accustomed to seeing numerous advertisements informing the public about this or that project in the millions, sometimes billions. The advertisements have a format, with detailed descriptions of job, requirements. They are called ‘Invitation to Bid’ or ‘Expression of Interest’, among a small tight string of helpful information. They speak of compulsory criteria, specifications, skills, track record and equipment necessary, as starting points. It is reluctantly accepted that the lowest bid does not determine the winner, and similarly that almost everything else is nonnegotiable, particularly track record and vital qualifications and skills of contractors bidding.
Now, when no experience in physically building (anything) is casually tossed out the window by NPTAB, I reach this place. NPTAB is not needed anymore. Criteria and standards mean nothing. The supposed search for and selection of so-called independent and principled Guyanese to oversee institutions like NPTAB, procurement boards, and procurement tribunals might as well be discarded into the dustbin forthwith. They are a joke. Other than for window dressing, as eye shadow and face foundation that runs and smears. We all look and are sorrier for it. Because then, anybody could say anything to justify their good fortune; and it stands, since that is the way things are today.
I proceed into other areas. Likewise, the Police Complaints Authority, the police itself and GECOM (and many others of like stature) are all subject to manipulating to perform like puppets dancing the jigs of ministers and leaders, should circumstances demand. What happened with the $346 million award was glaring. Instead of asking how much like this left to come, it is better to rephrase as: there must be many more like this waiting.
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