{"id":7753,"date":"2019-01-09T08:48:17","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T13:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev?p=7753"},"modified":"2019-01-09T08:48:17","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T13:48:17","slug":"patterson-denies-edghills-accusation-of-unaccounted-gyd79-m-for-demerara-bridge-feasibility-study-accuses-ppp-of-executing-projects-without-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/patterson-denies-edghills-accusation-of-unaccounted-gyd79-m-for-demerara-bridge-feasibility-study-accuses-ppp-of-executing-projects-without-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"Patterson denies Edghill\u2019s accusation of unaccounted GYD$79 M for Demerara Bridge feasibility study; accuses PPP of executing projects without studies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson on Wednesday denied a claim by People\u2019s Progressive Party (PPP) frontbencher, Juan Edghill\u00a0 that GYD$79 million extra was disbursed for a Dutch feasibility study that has been mired in controversy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you are saying there is absolutely untruth,\u201d Patterson told the House in rebutting Edghill. The Minister, however, did not go into details about disbursements that Edghill said was made.<\/p>\n

T he Dutch company,\u00a0LievenseCSO Engineering Contracting BV, had recommended that government builds a low three-lane bridge with a retraction area to allow ships to pass. Government has since scrapped that plan and has decided to construct a four lane high-span crossing. In the 2019 National Budget, another GYD$100 million have been allocated for a feasibility study.<\/p>\n

In his contribution to debate on the 2019 National Budget, Edghill called on Patterson to explain how was it that a total of GYD$148 million were paid to the Dutch company, for an unsolicited feasibility study, but figures show that GYD$227 million were paid over by the Demerara Harbour Bridge for that job.<\/p>\n

Based on a finding by the Public Procurement Commission that Patterson had allegedly breached the Procurement Act and Guyana\u2019s Constitution by sole-sourcing the contract without going through the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, the PPP has gotten the Guyana Police Force\u2019s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) to conduct an investigation. Patterson has since been questioned by SOCU agents and the matter has gone for legal advice.<\/p>\n

In the House on Wednesday, Edghill\u00a0said in the Procurement Commission Report on the issue states that on November 25, 2016 Cabinet approved GYD$161, 514,420 to pay for the study. He highlighted that in December, 2016 the General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge inked a contract without approval of that entity\u2019s board.<\/p>\n

Edghill claimed that in 2017 the Asphalt Plant of the Demerara Bridge paid GYD$153,250,385 on the feasibility study and in January, 2018 an additional GYD$14,728,000 and in February GYD$59,340,00 was spent on the project.<\/p>\n

Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson on Wednesday ignored a call by People\u2019s Progressive Party (PPP) frontbencher, Juan Edghill to explain why another GYD$100 million is need for feasibility studies for the proposed new Demerara Harbour Bridge and to account for GYD$79 million related to the first study that has been mired in controversy.<\/p>\n

In his contribution to debate on the 2019 National Budget, Edghill called on Patterson to explain how was it that a total of GYD$148 million was paid to the Dutch company,\u00a0LievenseCSO Engineering Contracting BV, for an unsolicited feasibility study, but figures show that GYD$227 million were paid over by the Demerara Harbour Bridge for that job.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were told that the Dutch company only got 148 million. Where did the rest of the money go? We want to know today, not that we will get the information to you. Get it to us today\u2026even the accounting from the asphalt plant is not accurate. How much did you send? Please tell the Honourable House this afternoon because you asking for another 100 million for the Demerara Harbour Bridge from the budget,\u201d\u00a0 Edghill said.<\/p>\n

However, when it was the Public Infrastructure Minister\u2019s turn to speak, he merely confirmed that GYD$100 million was indeed set aside for feasibility studies for the new Demerara Harbour Bridge link from Houston, East Bank Demerara to Versailles, West Bank Demerara.<\/p>\n

Based on a finding by the Public Procurement Commission that Patterson had allegedly breached the Procurement Act and Guyana\u2019s Constitution by sole-sourcing the contract without going through the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, the PPP has gotten the Guyana Police Force\u2019s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) to conduct an investigation. Patterson has since been questioned by SOCU agents and the matter has gone for legal advice.<\/p>\n

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

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image:\u00a0\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson on Wednesday denied a claim by People\u2019s Progressive Party (PPP) frontbencher, Juan Edghill\u00a0 that GYD$79 million extra was disbursed for a Dutch feasibility study…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":3652,"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":[116,185,125],"class_list":["post-7753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-newsdevelopments","tag-guyana","tag-infrastructure","tag-public-procurement"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Demerara_Harbor_Bridge-Wikipedia.jpeg?fit=1280%2C960&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-213","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21155,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/21-billion-set-aside-for-new-demerara-harbour-bridge-matters\/","url_meta":{"origin":7753,"position":0},"title":"$21 billion set aside for new Demerara Harbour Bridge matters","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"March 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Guyana \u00a0 The Guyana government has set aside GY$21 billion (estimated US$100.4 million) for matters related to the construction of the new Demerara Harbour Bridge including fair compensation to property owners in the\u00a0 new path of the proposed thoroughfare and ensuring that the toll will not be expensive, Public Works\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","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\/03\/pexels-rodolfo-quiros-2219024-scaled-e1646951989406.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\/03\/pexels-rodolfo-quiros-2219024-scaled-e1646951989406.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/pexels-rodolfo-quiros-2219024-scaled-e1646951989406.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/pexels-rodolfo-quiros-2219024-scaled-e1646951989406.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":22663,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/contract-signed-two-year-deadline-for-us260m-demerara-river-bridge\/","url_meta":{"origin":7753,"position":1},"title":"Contract signed, two-year deadline for US$260M Demerara River bridge","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"June 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Guyana HAILED as the largest public infrastructure project undertaken in Guyana, the government, on Wednesday, signed a US$260 million contract for the construction of the new Demerara River Bridge at the Nandy Park, East Bank Demerara (EBD) site where the eastern end of the bridge will land. Deodat Indar, Minister\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","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\/06\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4968573-scaled-e1655473594837.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\/06\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4968573-scaled-e1655473594837.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4968573-scaled-e1655473594837.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4968573-scaled-e1655473594837.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6604,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/police-considering-ppps-complaint-about-award-of-new-demerara-bridge-feasibility-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":7753,"position":2},"title":"Police considering PPP\u2019s complaint about award of new Demerara Bridge feasibility study","author":"Michele Marius","date":"August 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Guyana Police Force\u2019s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) is considering the opposition People\u2019s Progressive Party\u2019s (PPP\u2019s) request for a probe into Cabinet\u2019s award of a contract to a Netherlands-headquartered company to conduct a feasibility study for a new Demerara Harbour Bridge. \u201cThe matter is now engaging the attention of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News\/Developments"","block_context":{"text":"News\/Developments","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/newsdevelopments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Demerara_Harbor_Bridge-Wikipedia.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Demerara_Harbor_Bridge-Wikipedia.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Demerara_Harbor_Bridge-Wikipedia.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Demerara_Harbor_Bridge-Wikipedia.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Demerara_Harbor_Bridge-Wikipedia.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30138,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/kallco-principals-to-meet-guyana-minister-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":7753,"position":3},"title":"Kallco principals to meet Guyana minister today","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"September 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Guyana FACING the possibility of being blacklisted in Guyana and removed from two ongoing projects there, the principals of Kallco are expected to meet with that country\u2019s Public Works minister this afternoon. 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