Delinquent concrete suppliers to be blacklisted, face financial penalties – Govt – INews Guyana
The Ministry of Public Works will be instituting penalties against delinquent concrete suppliers, whose shortcomings are resulting in delays in a number of projects across the country.
This is according to Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo who on Thursday noted that several small contractors on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) have complained of being given substandard concrete from suppliers, or less than the amount procured for the projects.
Explaining the implications of such practices, the Vice President said, “so years later, a road should be at 4,000 PSI or 4,500 PSI, they’re getting 2,000 PSI, That means they’re cheating on the quality of the concrete so the small guy who is building the road, he buys the concrete, he gets a small contract but when he does the road, it doesn’t meet the standard and it starts dusting, then he gets blamed too but it is the quality of concrete supplied.”
For such suppliers, Jagdeo said they can be effectively blacklisted since the Government will inform contractors to desist from purchasing materials from them.
“We’ll say to those people, don’t buy from them and effectively blacklisting, them,” he noted.
“It is the government working to see that we do things good and that we get value for money,” he added, during his weekly press conference hosted at Freedom House.
The Ministry of Public Works in a statement on Friday noted that in addition to delayed supply and substandard quality, there have also been delays in supply whereby contractors have remitted advance payments to concrete suppliers and are subjected to wait extended periods of time for delivery.
As such, the Ministry notified concrete suppliers “failure to comply with required standards and delivery timelines will result in immediate and severe consequences.”
Some of the measures immediately being taken are increased monitoring of the concrete supply chain and intensifying of testing and quality control exercises.
The Ministry will also proceed to blacklist delinquent concrete suppliers and prohibit government contractors from procuring concrete produced by them.
Further, financial penalties will be instituted in the form of surcharges and recovery costs from any delinquent concrete supplier whose products cause undue project delays, structural damage, increased expenditures or any other relevant damages.
The Ministry of Public Works said it will continue to prioritise the successful and timely completion of public works projects across Guyana. It encouraged all stakeholders, including suppliers, contractors, and the public, to support our efforts in delivering infrastructure that meets the highest standards of durability and safety.
