Public Works Ministry paid 50% of contract sum in one week for last-minute Bridge

Jan 14, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The Auditor General (AG) has flagged the Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) for doling out 50 percent of a $15 million contract in one week of the contract being signed on December 23, 2020.

One of the completed ‘emergency’ bridges done by the Ministry of Public Works at Sussex and Hog Streets. (Chronicle photo)

According to the AG, Deodat Sharma, in the Audited report for the various agencies for the year 2020, the contract signed was to the tune of $15.991 million for the reconstruction of the Enmore School Street Bridge.
“Two payments totalling $7.995M, which represented approximately fifty percent of the contract sum, were made within one week of the signing of the contract. However, the contractor did not provide a mobilisation advance bond and a performance security of twenty and ten percent of the contract price, respectively, as required,” the audit report detailed.
It said that as a result of the bond not being provided, the Ministry would not have been in a position to levy on any bonds, if the contractor had defaulted in the contractual arrangement. As a consequence, Sharma concluded, “This is poor contract administration”.
In yet another instance, the AG found that a contract was also signed on the said date to the tune of $15.908 million for the reconstruction of Sussex and Hog Streets Bridge, Georgetown. Here again the AG said that two payment totaling $8.467M, which represented about 53 percent of the contract sum, were made within one week of the signing of the contract between the Ministry and the contractor.
“However, the contractor did not provide a mobilisation advance bond and a performance security of twenty and ten percent of the contract price, respectively, as required. As a result, the Ministry would not have been in a position to levy on any bonds, should the contractor default,” Sharma pointed out.
In response to the AG’s statement, the Ministry, headed by Minister Juan Edghill, explained that the projects were emergency works.
According to the Ministry, “Head of Budget Agency stated that the two contracts (Reconstruction of Sussex and Hog Street Bridge, and Reconstruction of Enmore School Street Bridge) were emergency works. By the time the contract was signed and payments were processed, works had already commenced and at that stage the contractors had already purchased the majority of the materials required to execute the job”. In his recommendation to the MoPW, Sharma said that the agency ought to ensure there is proper administration of all contracts entered into.