-as government works to expand opportunities for small contractors
Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has defended the government’s ongoing contract pre-qualification exercise, saying the process was introduced to strengthen transparency and create wider opportunities for small contractors across Guyana.
Dr Jagdeo was at the time speaking on the sidelines of a public engagement, where he noted many persons lodged queries about the award of contracts.
Dr. Jagdeo said the exercise was specifically designed to allow more Guyanese to benefit from procurement opportunities.
“We went through a pre-qualification exercise because we wanted to enhance transparency surrounding the award of contracts. We wanted to help more small people get contracts,” the Vice President said.
He explained that in previous years, contracts valued below $15 million were often awarded without a formal tendering process, as permitted under the Procurement Act, but noted that many persons complained they were unaware of how to access such opportunities.
“So the best way of getting everyone to know of the process and be part of it was to go through a pre-qualification exercise,” he explained.
Dr. Jagdeo disclosed that nearly 12,000 applications were submitted by small contractors from across the country. He noted, however, that the verification process has proven complex due to attempts by some applicants to circumvent the rules.
“In that pre-qualification exercise, we got nearly 12,000 small contractors who submitted documents of pre-qualification. So we’ve been vetting the list with a lot of difficulties,” he said.
He noted that among the challenges encountered were cases where multiple family members submitted applications through separate companies despite restrictions against that practice.
“Some others are big contractors who are trying to get in with the small contractors,” Dr. Jagdeo added.
He said government officials and technical staff have been working intensively to cleanse the list and ensure only legitimate applicants are approved.
“We have done so on the ground with technical staff, ministerial involvement, hoping to clean up the list of pre-qualified contractors,” he said.
The Vice President reassures contractors that once legitimately pre-qualified, they would have an opportunity to benefit.
“I want everyone to know, once you’re pre-qualified legitimately, that over the course of the year we’ll try to get at least one contract each,” he stated.
He acknowledged frustration among some applicants but noted that contracts could not be awarded simultaneously to thousands of persons.
“Everyone wants to go in the first round. If they see now that some contracts are being awarded because we have to start at the beginning, they complain they’re left out, but we can’t award 10,000 contracts at the same time,” he said.
According to Jagdeo, the broader goal is to build capacity among smaller Guyanese businesses and create long-term economic opportunities.
“The idea was to help small people to grow. We campaigned on this and we are doing it now,” he said. “We could have easily done like APNU and the others and give the contracts to a few big people. That’s not our track record. We want to grow a lot of small people.”
He added that contractors in all ten administrative regions are expected to benefit as the exercise continues throughout the year.