By Pt. Ubraj Narine- Attention is drawn to the news item captioned “T&T firm to reconstruct Linden/ Soesdyke Highway for US$161m”. With projected cost overruns and figures of an earlier report, the cost may approach US$200m. The funding for the roadway comes from the Middle East based Islamic Bank. Why is the government seeking loans from the Middle East and a religious bank at that when similar loans can be obtained from non-religious western banks and even from the World Bank (IDB)?
Guyana has the ability to repay IDB, which provides less costly soft loans at generous terms and whose engineers provide more accurate estimates (without kickbacks) of the project. Why are we borrowing from the Islamic Bank? What is the interest rate and terms of repayment? How much do we have to repay? Why were three Muslim owned companies tied to the contract? Is one of the conditions of the bank that only Muslims must be contracted?
Two foreign (NAMALCO, Absheek Engineering of Kuwait) and one local company (GuyAmerica Construction) were selected for the project; all three are Muslim owned. Is it coincidental, or is it a policy of the bank or of the government that only Muslims be selected?
Is the government pursuing a deliberate policy of Muslim control over the economy? This comes at a time when Hindu and Christian contractors have been complaining of being blanked in the award of contracts.
A cursory analysis of awarded contracts over the last four years reveals that 57.3% went to Muslim contractors, 24.6% to Hindus, and 18.1% to Christians. The religious distribution of the population is Christians of various denominations account for 60%, Hindus 27%, 11% Muslims, Others 2%.
Muslims get five times the dollar value of contracts as a proportion of their composition in the population. Christians and Hindus are under-represented in the awarding of contracts. Contracts must be distributed on a fair and equitable basis and not on the basis of religious or racial affiliation or family connect or on friendship.
The awarding of contracts to three Muslim companies and seeking loans from the Islamic development Bank raised eyebrows among large contractors in Guyana as well as bankers and among supporters of the PPP. They cry foul.
I welcome foreign companies in Guyana as they are key for our development. They have been essential contributors to economic growth and productivity, and we should engage and contract them. However, the selection of foreign and domestic companies for government contracts must be made on the basis of non-controversial, reputable companies and avoidance of a perception of corruption.
A Trinidadian Muslim owned company – NAMALCO – was selected to redo the road. Was due diligence done on NAMALCO. A google search reveals that NAMALCO has been wired in controversy (Guardian Newspaper Apr 27, 2022). The performance of the company is not known. The company has been in court (in a lawsuit for TT$1.3 billion) over construction work and payment. Government withheld payment for what it claimed was non-performance. The company did receive significant payment from the UNC led administration.
In other words, the PNM government claimed that NAMALCO was paid for work it didn’t complete and was further making demand for payment for unfinished work. NAMALCO was accused of inflating bills. That matter has been in court since 2017; the court ordered that the government pay one-third of the amount, but it was held. Why is Guyana government contracting a company embroiled in controversy and court matter over its work performance and cost?
It would help if President Irfaan Ali could tell us who owns GuyAmerica Construction. And what engineering work has Al-Habshi Engineering Consultants of Kuwait done?
May I suggest that the government request or contract the World Bank (or IDB) to undertake an assessment of NAMALCO to determine its suitability to undergo contract work in Guyana and Al-Habshi’s competence to supervise the construction. While at it, can IDB engineers do an assessment of the cost of the planned road project.
Pt.Ubraj Narine, JP, COA
Former Staff Sgt.(GDF), Mayor
City of Georgetown
