The importance of transparency and accountability in the execution of Government-funded projects was emphasized by Prime Minister, Mark Phillips on Tuesday.
Phillips made these remarks at a contract-signing ceremony for the construction of a $117M, 6400 square foot, multi-purpose building for the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), which was held at CDC’s headquarters, Thomas lands.
The Prime Minister, who has responsibility for the Commission, charged both the contractors and officials to execute the project in a timely and responsible manner. The PM stressed that the objective is not just to complete the building in the estimated 24 months, but to maintain its quality throughout the process.
As such, Phillips made reference to a past project, where senior officials broke the law and allowed substandard performance.
“We need to do a better job at supervising projects to ensure that the Government and people of Guyana derived the benefits,” he said.
PM Phillips pointed to the findings of the Auditor General’s Report for 2020, which revealed financial breaches and other irregularities in the construction of the CDC office building in 2019, where some $29M were paid for work that was never completed and, in some cases, never started. The Senior Government official noted that this resulted in the current Government allocating additional funds to complete the building in the 2021 budget.
“In order for the $29M to be paid to the contractors, senior CDC officials had to sign documents stating that the works were completed, when they knew that the works were not completed and in many cases had never started. So notwithstanding the fact that Government found money to complete the building, these incidents for work that was never done will have to be further investigated,” Phillips declared.
More Stories
Guyana’s digitisation push to enhance comfort, security, economic growth – GS Jagdeo
Guyanese to enjoy visa-free travel to the UAE
President Ali’s LCDS advocacy achieves profound success abroad