Finance Minister Winston Jordan has continuously lamented the sloth of implementation of the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP). But a closer look recently at the factors responsible for this state of affairs reveals that the absence of adequate engineers is one of the major issues.
The economist made this revelation at the recently launched Budget 2020 sensitisation and training process which took place at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre.
There, Jordan said that a closer examination of the reasons behind the PSIP’s slothfulness shows that it is a combination of poor management and ineffective planning, in many instances of civil works. Further, the absence of an adequate number of engineers he said has compromised the pace and quality of infrastructure development.
In addition, Jordan said that the acceleration of the PSIP has been strained by incapacity in the private sector. Jordan said that these problems imply a holistic approach to solving. One aspect of that solution Minister Jordan said must be improved conditions of service, salary, and allowances.
In that regard, he opined that salary improvements to attract a higher number of qualified engineers to the central government are under active consideration. The Finance Minister said that this is expected to be approved shortly.
Earlier this year, the Guyana Standard had reported that the Government had outlined several measures it intends to take to improve the 2019 PSIP performance so that the needs of citizens across the country can be adequately addressed.
Minister Jordan had said that among the measures put in place by the government is the amendment and passage of the Procurement (Amendment) Bill Number 2 of 2019. That legislation seeks to ensure that in the process of procurement, definitions are defined; there is a wider range of procurement methods listed; there is debarment and suspension of suppliers; and “green procurement”, among others. (See link for further details: https://www.guyanastandard.com/2019/05/31/workable-solutions-to-help-implement-public-sector-investment-programme/)
