$760M worth in contracts sign by Home Affairs Ministry

A total of $760,236,592 worth in contracts were signed by the government on Tuesday, as they reaffirmed their commitment to the delivery of quality service and the protection of all Guyanese.

Further, contracts valued $129,573,450 were signed at the Home Affairs Ministry’s headquarters, Brickdam to construct four command operation centres for the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in Regions Two, Five, Six and Ten. It was revealed that the construction will be undertaken by NK Engineering Services, ACE Construction Service & Investment, Brick & Mortar Construction Service and Ele’s Trading and Hardware.

Deputy Commissioner (ag) Ravindradat Budhram praised the initiative, noting that it will boost crime fighting strategies. “It will aid the police in crime fighting in terms of technology, cameras in the various regions, and will aid the police in terms of investigation, so, we welcome the initiative and we are prepared to work with the persons to have this completed, and so we can have our crime fighting strategy be boosted,” Budhram said.

The Deputy Commissioner pointed out that the centres have a network to share information and intelligence to fight crime, and are accessible across the country. It was noted that two contracts to the tune of $145,033,088 were signed by Singh & Son Construction and Advanced Engineering, to improve the security fences and living quarters of senior officers at the Lusignan prison.

Director of Prisons (ag) Nicklon Elliot disclosed that the construction of a new quarters will benefit over 150 ranks who reside outside of Georgetown. In addition, the construction of a fence will improve the prison’s security. “We recognised that the accommodation for staff was lacking and this would be able to boost staff morale in terms of those persons who are living outside of Georgetown. The security fence will further enhance the prisons, thus aiding us with our daily operational activities within the prison,” Elliot noted.

It was revealed that rooms for the living quarters will cater to pregnant and other officials as they will be constructed in an open style dormitory consisting of self-contained rooms. Further, contracts valued $485,630,054 were awarded to AYN Construction, Comprass Industrial Services and ANGLOCO for the construction of the Wales Fire Station, the procurement of 148 fire hydrants and five firefighting vehicles.

Receiving the most lucrative contract was ANGLOCO to the tune of $316,649,700 to procure the five firefighting vehicles. Chief Fire Officer, Gregory Wickham expressed thanks for the continued support of the Government as he explained the importance of the contracts to the protection of property and life from destruction by fire.

“The establishment of a fire station in the Wales area- that fire station there will service the shore base facilities. It will also lend support and firefighting to members in the neighbouring community, so that there is indicative of what the fire service wants to do, and us wanting to lend the support to members of the public so that we can ensure that they have safe communities, and they are protected by destruction from fire.

Additionally, the fire chief pointed out that the fire hydrants are important in the expansion process to have housing schemes particularly the new ones protected from fire. The fire hydrants will also provide firefighters with the capabilities to efficiently and effectively do their jobs in the event of a fire. Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn, disclosed that the projects are continued efforts of rebuilding the agencies to better serve and protect citizens. He urged awardees to deliver the projects in a timely manner.

“We want our projects to be delivered on time, on specification and on quality, and we want that our workers or people who are working on these projects to be maintained and supported in a safe manner. We don’t want industrial accidents,” Benn said. “A safe worker is an efficient worker once he is well trained and supervised,” Benn stressed as he encouraged contractors to safeguard their workers with the necessary safety gear and equipment.

The minister added that all contracts awarded have a four to six months deadline.