{"id":13221,"date":"2020-07-02T16:30:29","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T21:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev?p=13221"},"modified":"2020-07-02T13:28:02","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T18:28:02","slug":"pm-wants-value-for-money-on-all-state-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/pm-wants-value-for-money-on-all-state-contracts\/","title":{"rendered":"PM wants value for money on all state contracts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says even improved and amended procurement legislation would not have helped the Government save over $200 million on the Curepe Interchange project, as even with such legislation there were ways for corrupt politicians to use more taxpayers\u2019 money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf what passed for competition then was allowed to prevail, you could simply have said that the job was tendered and the lowest bidder was $440 million and therefore you gave the contract to that bidder and not the one for $500 million and nobody in T&T would have had a problem with that,\u201d Rowley said during the official opening of the interchange.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut somebody would have walked away with $200 million more than what was required. I am sure that the contractors involved in this project made a profit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rowley said the project came in at a final cost of $221 million and while he was not an engineer or a quantity surveyor, he \u201cknew\u201d the original project price was too high.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew what was happening and I knew that if the contractors were told that you are not going to get the job at that price ($440m) and we are going back out to tender, they will give you a price that is far better,\u201d Rowley said.<\/p>\n<p>He said when the Government wanted to build the swimming pool in Laventille, the initial project cost presented by the Urban Development Corporation of T&T was $24 million.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI run UdeCoTT so fast from the Cabinet with one question, if you were going to build a swimming pool in your yard, with your money, will you spend $24 million on it?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He said the finished pool eventually cost less than $5 million.<\/p>\n<p>He said he tried to ensure that in his time in Government, it would not be a time for his Cabinet \u201cto eat\u201d but for the taxpayer to breathe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t care what they say on Facebook, this Government has set the tone for honest government in Trinidad and Tobago,\u201d he said to a smattering of applause.<\/p>\n<p>Rowley said based on what they were able to negotiate with the Curepe project, the cost of every other interchange \u201cgoing east\u201d would be better.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we had to pay $440 million for this, the next five interchanges would have cost us over $2 billion, because we would have set the tone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He said Government also saved some $3 billion on the contract from Golconda to Point Fortin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe knew and we said that that contract could be broken up into sections, so as to allow our local contractors to be a part of the tendering process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Giving the project to one contractor had \u201cbenefits\u201d for some people, he noted. He said the initial budget for that highway expansion project was $4 billion on the eve of the 2010 general election but it went up to $7 billion after the election.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.tt\/news\/pm-wants-value-for-money-on-all-state-contracts-6.2.1132602.73ae801b72\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">more<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Image:\u00a0 Ken Teegardin (flickr)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says even improved and amended procurement legislation would not have helped the Government save over $200 million on the Curepe Interchange project, as even with&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":4733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[112],"tags":[125,137],"class_list":["post-13221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-newsdevelopments","tag-public-procurement","tag-trinidad-and-tobago"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Pink-Piggy-Bank-On-Top-Of-A-Pile-Of-One-Dollar-Bills-Ken-Teegardin-flickr-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C697&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-3rf","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23574,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/rowley-disappointed-at-delays-in-procurement-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":13221,"position":0},"title":"Rowley disappointed at delays in procurement law","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"August 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said he is anxious to have the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act proclaimed, and he expressed disappointment at the delay in the full implementation of the law. At a press conference yesterday, Rowley disagreed with the suggestion that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pexels-rodnae-productions-7841812-scaled-e1648207457324.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pexels-rodnae-productions-7841812-scaled-e1648207457324.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pexels-rodnae-productions-7841812-scaled-e1648207457324.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pexels-rodnae-productions-7841812-scaled-e1648207457324.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23562,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/disappointed-in-pms-procurement-stance\/","url_meta":{"origin":13221,"position":1},"title":"Disappointed in PM\u2019s procurement stance","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"August 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago The Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry (JCC) is heartened that the prime minister has broken his long and loud silence on procurement legislation, as reported in Tuesday\u2019s Express. The JCC, and no doubt the rest of the public, is very confused, however, by Dr Rowley\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/pexels-mat-brown-1034065-scaled-e1660863127686.jpg?fit=1024%2C575&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/pexels-mat-brown-1034065-scaled-e1660863127686.jpg?fit=1024%2C575&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/pexels-mat-brown-1034065-scaled-e1660863127686.jpg?fit=1024%2C575&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/pexels-mat-brown-1034065-scaled-e1660863127686.jpg?fit=1024%2C575&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24136,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/pm-procurement-legislation-coming-soon\/","url_meta":{"origin":13221,"position":2},"title":"PM: Procurement Legislation coming soon","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"September 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago \u00a0 Despite the recent call by several stakeholders for the proclamation and implementation of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says there is going to be \u201ca little delay\u201d in its execution. Speaking at a press conference on Monday\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pexels-towfiqu-barbhuiya-8693379-scaled-e1663282901744.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pexels-towfiqu-barbhuiya-8693379-scaled-e1663282901744.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pexels-towfiqu-barbhuiya-8693379-scaled-e1663282901744.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pexels-towfiqu-barbhuiya-8693379-scaled-e1663282901744.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35257,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/roget-on-refinery-bidding-process-a-scandal-in-the-making\/","url_meta":{"origin":13221,"position":3},"title":"Roget on refinery bidding process: &#8216;A scandal in the making&#8217;","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"July 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Guyana resident General of the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) Ancel Roget has accused Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley of \u2018bias\u2019 following his official meeting with an Indian businessman who expressed his interest in the Petrotrin refinery. Rowley met Naveen Jindal two weeks ago to discuss business prospects for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Legislation-gavel-sign-Alpha-Stock-Images-The-Blue-Diamond-Gallery.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Legislation-gavel-sign-Alpha-Stock-Images-The-Blue-Diamond-Gallery.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Legislation-gavel-sign-Alpha-Stock-Images-The-Blue-Diamond-Gallery.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Legislation-gavel-sign-Alpha-Stock-Images-The-Blue-Diamond-Gallery.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21988,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/cctv-procurement-process-compromised\/","url_meta":{"origin":13221,"position":4},"title":"CCTV procurement process compromised","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"May 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago \u00a0 MAJORITY State-owned Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) complained, in writing, that the Ministry of National Security\u2019s September 2018 CCTV procurement process was \u201cirretrievably compromised\u201d. The criticism of the ministry\u2019s CCTV procurement process came in a letter written by former TSTT CEO, Ronald Walcott, dated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/pexels-scott-webb-430208-scaled-e1651713365348.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/pexels-scott-webb-430208-scaled-e1651713365348.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/pexels-scott-webb-430208-scaled-e1651713365348.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/pexels-scott-webb-430208-scaled-e1651713365348.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23165,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/moonilal-wants-probe-into-posgh-contract-bid\/","url_meta":{"origin":13221,"position":5},"title":"Moonilal wants probe into PoSGH contract bid","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"July 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago \u00a0 Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal believes a technical glitch which caused the Urban Development Corporation (UDECOTT) e-tender platform to introduce a third bidder on the Port-of-Spain General Hospital Central Block project, days after the bidding was closed, should be immediately investigated, as the matter points\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Buildings-construction-cranes-Juhasz-Imre-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Buildings-construction-cranes-Juhasz-Imre-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Buildings-construction-cranes-Juhasz-Imre-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Buildings-construction-cranes-Juhasz-Imre-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13221"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13226,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13221\/revisions\/13226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}