One month after it advertised for a General Manager, the Demerara Harbour Birdge Corporation, has gotten one in the person of Wayne Watson.
Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill on the recommendation of the Board of Directors of the corporation appointed Watson as the new General Manager effective immediately, a release from the Works Ministry said.
Watson is the holder of a Master’s Degree in Strategic Engineering from the Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Guyana and has over 10 years managerial and engineering experience in the power sector.
According to the ministry his core competencies include Strategic Thinking, Integrated Reporting, Budgeting and Forecasting, Governance and Risk Management, Ethics and Professionalism, Stakeholders Relationship Management, Procurement and Supply Chain Management, project Management and Team Building and Performance Management.
Mr. Watson served in the positions of Loss Reduction Metering Manager, Loss Reduction Operations’ Manager, Assistant Engineer 1, Loss Reduction Operations’ Manager and Electrical Engineer. He is also the holder of several other academic certificates.
Edghill had stated in January that Rawlston Adams, former DHBC General Manager and Troy Halley, previously responsible for the management of the Asphalt Plant, have been removed from their positions for “misuse of public funds”. Halley has been sent back to the DHBC. Edghill had explained that an interim arrangement for the management of the DHBC and Asphalt Plant has been put in place until the Board can interview, shortlist and appoint new Heads. “These actions are necessary actions to ensure public confidence in a public corporation as it relates to public monies,” he said.
That same month, together with former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, Adams was placed on $200,000 bail by Magistrate Leron Daly for allegedly defrauding the DHBC of approximately $162.6M. It is alleged that between November 18, 2016, and February 1, 2018, Patterson and Adams conspired with each other to defraud the Habour Bridge Corporation of $162,635,015 during their facilitation of a project for the feasibility study and design of a new bridge. The allegations stem from an investigation conducted into the DHBC and Asphalt Plant. The senior functionaries were not required to plea to the indictable charge and the matter will come up again on February 15, 2021.
