Since 2017, more than 19 engineers crossed over to the private sector, resulting in a shortfall of critical staff to implement government’s infrastructural projects. This is according to the 2019 Mid-Year Report that was issued earlier this week by the Ministry of Finance.
According to the report seen by the Guyana Standard, this occurrence is causing the government headaches since it stymies planning, procurement, and contract management.
The government has, however, taken the necessary steps to retain these professionals, which included the updating of the compensation structure for engineers and technicians. This new structure was updated last month and the government expects that, going forward, the engineering corps will be augmented significantly.
The shortage of engineers in the public sector was commented on earlier last month by the Finance Minister at the launch of the 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 Public Sector Investment Programme’s (PSIP) slothfulness is as a result of the absence of an adequate number of engineers, which he said has compromised the pace and quality of infrastructure development.
Of the $38.5B allocated for 2019, approximately $16.5B was spent during the first half of the year. Of that amount, $5.2B was current and $11.3B was capital expenditure.
