This is according to Vice President and PPP’s General Secretary, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo when he spoke about his recent outreach to Linden, Region 10 where billions in road works were signed.
While addressing his outreach, he pushed back against allegations of social bribery tied to the upcoming elections. He reasoned that initiatives like these are consistent with the government’s work in previous years.
In fact, over the last five years, thousands of new small contractors were created and are now executing infrastructural projects, a crucial component of the administration’s plan to modernise Guyana through enhanced infrastructure.
And, “because of that success we now have to think about, in the next term in office, how we can continue to involve small, medium-scale contractors by developing a public works programme, ” he said, adding that it will extend a lot more opportunities to the ordinary Guyanese.
Last year, in Region 10 for example, some 500 small contractors executed a massive work programme to the tune of $7 billion. And this year, a new wave of infrastructure development valued at over $10 billion is set to boost community development, with 700 locals leading this charge.
According to the vice president, even persons who have publicly chastised the ruling administration have received contracts to execute these works.
“We are not doing a favour for the people there. We have just changed the system to empower small people and to give them an opportunity to implement programmes,” he made clear.
This story would have been different under previous administrations, he said, pointing out that small contractors would have never gotten the opportunity to execute projects.
You may ask, but how was this possible? According to Dr Jagdeo, this was achieved through a change in the procurement policy, whereby projects under $15 million are now allocated based on rates rather than competitive bidding. This has prevented larger contractors from dominating all small contracts and, “If we had continued with the bidding system, just a few people would have won all the bids.”
The vice president made it clear that this is not unique to Region 10, as hundreds of new contractors are executing road works in all administrative regions.
Thanks to these inclusive system, Dr Jagdeo revealed that the government has nearly completed all community roads along the coastal regions, and in the next term, the focus would be on sustainaing and scaling this progress.
Looking ahead, he said there will be a number of climate-resilient infrastructure projects including concrete community drains, recreational facilities and lighting projects, which he said, “would create many opportunities for people who are …small contractors but also large ones.”
While the vice president highlighted the creation of small contractors along the coastland regions, it is important to note that hinterland residents are also benefitting from a similar initiative. Under the Community Participation Programme, villagers take on the task of maintaining their roadways and ensuring they remain accessible.
