RDA to contractors: Politicians can’t help you secure projects
Political interference will not be condoned when the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA) is selecting contractors for the various recovery projects to be done during the next few years.
RDA Deputy Chairman Clarence Faulkner issued the warning last Friday during the Agency’s first official ‘invitation to tender’ forum. Persons were invited to bid for a major debris removal project to be done on Jost Van Dyke and Tortola.
Faulkner said while the RDA has been given the mandate to execute the territory’s recovery plan, it is solely responsible to develop procurement procedures and approve contracts.
“We are not central government. There is no sense going to a political figure and saying ‘see what you can do for me’,” he said.
“What is going to happen is we are going to look at every engagement, every contract, every supplier, and say, ‘do they meet the credentials that are outlined to execute this?’” he explained.
Debris Clearance
Now 10 months after the 2017 disasters, Manager of the Department of Waste Management Greg Massicote said his department has developed “a plan to remove as much debris as possible”, especially since the territory is in another hurricane season.
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Image: DFID (flickr)