Local companies unwilling to tender for project – Ramjattan
Rebuilding Camp St Prison
…despite 20 companies being prequalified in 2017 for reconstruction
…Govt sole source overseas firm
Since coming to office in 2015, the coalition Government has been engulfed in several controversies where it sole sourced goods and services. However, this trend seems to be heading into 2018; with more matters of this nature to follow.
Speaking during the 83rd sitting of the eleventh Parliament, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan indicated that a company had been sole sourced out of the United States to reconstruct a prison at the ruined Camp Street Prison. Only the concrete block stands, following a devastating fire set by escaping inmates in July 2017.
His comments were in response to a motion originally spearheaded by Opposition parliamentarian Juan Edghill. It was subsequently introduced by Opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira, as Edghill’s suspension continues from the House.
In his response to the National Assembly, Ramjattan stated that local companies were unwilling to get involved in “this type” of tendering. The Minister suggested that the reason for this was because they were ignorant of the process.
“We had to ensure, because of a certain person in NPTAB (National Procurement and Tender Administration Board) saying there must be some experienced contractors that know a thing or two about prisons. And if we have to single source, we have to single source.”
“And we went and single sourced a firm out of America, (which) has built over 300 prisons and has built the Guantanamo prison steel cell. And so they got the contract and they will come down. The important point here is to know we are doing something. Steel cells came out of money we allocated last year,” Ramjattan declared.
Untruths
But Ramjattan’s words that persons are unwilling to bid for a project of this nature are not supported by what actually occurred. Last year, Government cancelled a tender for the multimillion-dollar reconstruction of the Administrative Blocks for the Georgetown prison. The project was at the time being undertaken by the Public Infrastructure Ministry.
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Image: Guyana Times