{"id":7023,"date":"2018-10-18T07:50:13","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T12:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projectcalls.com\/?p=7023"},"modified":"2018-10-17T12:39:17","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T17:39:17","slug":"level-the-playing-field-for-local-contractors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/level-the-playing-field-for-local-contractors\/","title":{"rendered":"Level the playing field for local contractors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Concerns abound regarding the Government of Jamaica\u2019s continued dealings with Chinese company, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), as dozens of road and building projects valued at billions of dollars are doled out and local contractors sidelined. Coupled with the recent ramblings by Jamaican workers, it seems that this company may be violating labour laws, much to the chagrin of those who wish for fair treatment and fair dealing in how scarce resources are allocated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Presently, CHEC is working on a new road being built in Kingston to alleviate traffic congestion on Spanish Town Road in the vicinity of the Three Miles area. The new road will link Chesterfield Drive off Spanish Town Road to Marcus Garvey Drive. While the Government should be commended for its drive in improving the main thoroughfares and alleviating citizens of the traffic congestion daily, there must be an equalling of the playing field as regards to the contracts which are given to CHEC.<\/p>\n

A report year ending 2017 by the National Works Agency, (NWA) shows that a major infrastructure development programme valued at US$352.941 million jointly financed by the China Eximbank and the Government of Jamaica (GoJ) since 2013, has secured contracts for CHEC.<\/p>\n

Of that amount, US$220 million worth of contracts is to be undertaken by CHEC itself, while medium-sized works totalling US$82.941 million is to be undertaken by Jamaican contractors under sub-contracts with CHEC.<\/p>\n

Further, JEEP works totaling US$50 million is to be undertaken by most small Jamaican contractors under subcontracts with CHEC. The focus of this component is minor infrastructure works including repair to gratings, sidewalks, drains, walls etc.<\/p>\n

As we can see, the playing field is not level here. China is giving 85 per cent for these loans and so the works all go to CHEC. In addition, the questions to be asked is one, does CHEC have other agreements that they have received from the Government? And, two, have these been procured following established guidelines for procurement of Government contracts?<\/p>\n

The problem with giving one company contracts is that there is a risk of workers\u2019 rights being sabotaged. Presently, relations are strained between the CHEC and Jamaican workers. Strikes were undertaken by the workers regarding matters relating to lack of adequate protective gear being supplied to employees, lack of potable water made available to employees, provision of safety equipment, and equitable salaries and pay for work on holidays and weekends.<\/p>\n

At the risk of sounding crass, we are welcoming to foreign investors but they must not be allowed disrespect our laws and get away with it. China Harbour Engineering Company has enjoyed major benefits under partnership with the Jamaican Government, and these include concessions for imports on materials and other means of repayment such as prime real estate lands. In 2014 it was revealed that the Chinese were to receive the Roaring River lands in Ocho Rios as part of an agreement with the Jamaican Government to construct the North-South link of Highway 2000, so the company was to receive 1200 acres of land in St Ann as payment for works on the north-south highway.<\/p>\n

The other issue is that roads used by CHEC in transporting materials etc, are often left in disrepair. These include roads such as the threadways road in north west St Catherine and others along the new highway.<\/p>\n

In 2016 the accountant general, in a special audit report on the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme, said the loan agreement application for the Preferential Buyer\u2019s Credit facility with the China Eximbank allowed for the engagement of a Chinese contractor by competitive tender. However, the Ministry of Transport and Works opted to utilise the sole source procurement methodology in awarding the contract to CHEC which \u201cmay have deprived the Government of the ability to achieve value for money and maintain transparency and fairness in the process\u201d.<\/p>\n

Along with other irregularities by the NWA, the accountant general said contrary to the provisions of the GoJ procurement guidelines, the NWA used the sole source method to award a contract to CHEC for US$1.2 million, approximately $102 million, to refurbish its corporate offices without the required approval of the National Contracts Commission. \u201cThe NWA did not determine if the option of sole source would earn or deny the entity any financial and qualitative gains, which could be garnered by using the competitive tender method. The required contractors levy of approximately US$24,000 or $2,040,000 was also not deducted and remitted to Tax Administration of Jamaica in accordance with sections 3 and 4 of the Contractors Levy Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2026 more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Image:\u00a0\u00a0Antranias (Pixabay<\/a>)<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Concerns abound regarding the Government of Jamaica\u2019s continued dealings with Chinese company, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), as dozens of road and building projects valued at billions of dollars are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":7028,"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":[124,125],"class_list":["post-7023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-newsdevelopments","tag-jamaica","tag-public-procurement"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/See-Saw-Game-Toy-Antranias-Pixabay.jpg?fit=1024%2C633&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-1Ph","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16757,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/montego-bay-perimeter-road-project-must-proceed-with-dispatch\/","url_meta":{"origin":7023,"position":0},"title":"Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project must proceed with dispatch","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"May 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The long-awaited Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project now seems destined to proceed with the Government's decision to give the nod to the Chinese Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to do the work. 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