Minister Juan Edghill must answer the questions, stop pussyfooting!

By Annette Ferguson MP- Last Friday, September 20, 2024; Stabroek News published a letter penned by me, headlined; “10 pertinent questions that the Minister of Public Works must address on the matter of the proposed government complex.”

Minister Edghill made a press release refuting claims by me regarding one of the questions on; ‘Can the minister say whether monies from the $7B approved for the office complexes are being used to fund the construction of the Sheraton Four Points Hotel?’

The release stated, “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.”

I view his comment as malicious, dumbfounded and to discredit my integrity.

A question was asked. I never implied that monies for the project is building the ‘Sheraton Four Points Hotel.’

Minister Edghill must be mindful that the $7.6B approved by the National Assembly is monies belonging to hardworking Taxpayers of Guyana and by right, as an Opposition Member of Parliament, I am duty bound to seek after public expenditures.

There are records both in the public domain and National Assembly where Edghill as Opposition Member questioned expenditures by the Coalition Government. I cannot understand what the difficulty is now, if questions are being asked by current Opposition Members.

Interestingly, the press release by Minister Edghill stated that many of the preparatory works for the Government Complexes are being done offsite, referencing to the fabrication of the steel for the superstructures. He claimed that the steels are being manufactured by factories. However, he has failed to identify and make public the names of the factories. How transparent is this?

As articulated in my last letter, I have visited the new proposed site for the project on several occasions; recent as September 7, 2024, where I observed inactivities, for the exception of aggregates for ongoing road construction being stockpiled.

I further view the press release by Minister Edghill as attempting to mislead the public that only $2.6B was paid to the contractor, ‘Caribbean Green Building Inc,’ as an advance. I can only assume that Minister Edghill may have allowed temporary amnesia to overtake him at the time of the release being prepared.

May I take the opportunity in reminding Minister Edghill that during the consideration of estimates for budget 2024; he admitted in the Committee of Supply of the National Assembly that $6.699B was expended at the end of Financial Year 2023, while an additional $1B was approved for 2024.

For the avoidance of being accused; of lacking integrity and misleading the public; I will provide by way of exhibit what has been provided by the Ministry of Finance in the budget estimates for 2024. They recorded that $2.65B was spent in 2022 and $4.045B was spent in 2023. Therefore, the question here, who is lacking integrity, ‘Edghill or Ferguson?’

Therefore, now that this project has become a public debate, and Minister Edghill has stated that steel structures are being manufactured by factories; can he provide information on the following questions:

1. Name(s) of the factories manufacturing the steel.
2. Where are these company located?
3. Can the people of Guyana be shown images, of the factories and the manufacturing of the steel?
4. Does the Ministry of Public Works have a representative overseeing their interest?
5. If yes, how often the representative travel to ensure the people of Guyana is getting value for money?
6. Has the Contractor, Caribbean Green Building Inc given an Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) of the steel?
7. Where are the concrete piles being made?
8. Could the Minister provide name of company making these concrete piles?
9. Could the Minister explain why hasn’t the contractor commenced additional works on the foundation for the project?
10. While the project has a completion date of August 23, 2026, could Minister Edghill say to Guyanese when actual and physical works are expected to commence?

Minister Edghill is on public record saying, “Construction of Govt. office complex to begin this year,” Kaieteur News, January 3, 2024. I stand by my initial call, ‘Edghill must come clean on this project.’

No amount of fancy designs of the project, game blaming and name calling would deter me from the real focus, that is, ‘accountability.’ I say to Minister Edghill and a brother of the Clergy do not attempt pulling wool over the eyes of Guyanese. You know better, do better. That is your stewardship sir!

I conclude by saying that it is difficult for me to buy wholesale the narrative provided by Minister Edghill. I look forward to him addressing my ten questions contained in this letter.