Public Infrastructure Ministry completes 91% work programme at midyear

DPI, GUYANA, Monday, August 07, 2017

The Ministry of Public Infrastructure has completed 91 percent of its work programme up to July 31,2017. Providing a mid-year performance update to the Department of Public Information (DPI) Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson said the Ministry has tendered 91 percent of its contract from which 83 percent has been awarded. There are 28 projects yet to be tendered.

Minister Patterson explained to the Department of Public Information (DPI) that some of the Ministry’s projects are foreign funded and the Ministry was required to make the requisite specifications before going to tender. Some of the 28 projects that were not tendered are being redefined.

According to the Public Infrastructure Minister, the overall expenditure up to July 31,2017 is $10.1B which represents approximately 40 percent of the Public-Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).

The locally funded PSIP is approximately $9.8B from which $3.9B was spent, while the foreign funded PISP was $15.6B from which $6.2B was expended. These represent a 40 percent in expenditures.

“I would have preferred to be over 50 percent by mid-year but my projects are capital in nature and during the rainy May/June season some of our performance dipped. We do expect now that the rains have somewhat subsided that we will be able to push through with the roads, particularly in the hinterlands and Georgetown. The hinterland roads were suspended during the rainy season, the contracts have been awarded, and the contractors are on standby,” Minister Patterson explained.

The Minister noted that several supplementary budget allocations were given to the Ministry recently which the public may question. However, the Minister explained that those funds were used for the East Bank, Berbice road, Guyana Power and Light’s Power Upgrade Utility Programme, Cheddi Jagan International Airport’s terminal building and runway as well as work on the Georgetown Prisons. Works in these areas continue to move apace.

Further, Minister Patterson highlighted that the Ministry has been experiencing some challenges with its capacity in terms of contractors. However, most of the contractors have been engaged and they have since hired more persons and mobilised more equipment.

“It’s a slow process but they are making progress, next year the ministry will be in a better position to execute several projects simultaneously. By the end of December we should complete our work programme.”

 

By: Ranetta La Fleur