Georgetown: A Partnership for National Unity’s Prime Ministerial Candidate, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine, has taken another swipe at the ruling administration for their failure to levy penalties in the form of liquidated damages on defaulting contractors.
Dr. Roopnarine says that this practice by the administration is downright outrageous and what makes it even worse is that the same contractors in default who sometimes deliver shoddy work are rewarded with more contracts that are at times more lucrative.
Over the years the Audit Office of Guyana in its Annual Reports have pointed out instances where contractors have even been overpaid for providing shoddy works but the safeguard provision of levying liquidated damages is non-existent.
Dr. Roopnarine is optimistic this is one of the matters that will have to be addressed by the requisite Parliamentary bodies with responsibility for activities such as the audits.
“Parliament is going to take its audit functions very seriously,” opined Dr. Roopnarine.
One of the prime examples of the administration failing to levy penalty in the form of liquidated damages involving Synergy Holdings and Makeshwar ‘Fip’ Motilall that is currently behind schedule with a US$15.4M road contract. The project was deemed hopelessly behind schedule ever since April 2011 with the administration threatening to apply liquidated damages but to date this is yet to be applied. Motilall has missed three subsequent deadlines.
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