Edghill must account for the appropriated $7B taxpayers’ money and the government office complex obscurity

Since the commencement of 2024, the Ali regime has embarked on several “sod-turning ceremonies.” I have yet to see the sod-turning ceremony at the proposed site to construct the twelve (12) storey building for the “office complex.” I guess Bishop Juan Edghill, MP and Minister of Public Works, will inform the public, post article. The Coalition Government conceptualised and designed this project through the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. My concerns were aroused from reading an article published by DPI, post press conference by Hon. Edghill on the performance of Ministry of Public Works, on January 1, 2024, and captioned, “Construction of gov’t office complex to begin this year.” This recent announcement by Mr. Edghill must be troubling to the Guyanese people.

During the consideration of the 2022 budget estimates, a sum of $2.6B was appropriated for “mobilisation purposes.” Mr. Edghill was questioned on the expenditure by opposition members Patterson and Ferguson. Mr. Edghill said the building will be “constructed in the Kingston area, where the existing government buildings cater to some 6,000 staffers.” Additionally, he mentioned to the Assembly that the contract was awarded to a company, ‘Caribbean Green Building Inc’. Investigations of the company revealed that it was fairly new - which was registered post-August 2, 2020, and was awarded a private contract in July 2022 to construct a 172 room hotel by Sheraton Hotel, at Houston (New Mandela/ Eccles Road),

East Bank Demerara, for US$35M. Despite poor accountability for this project, money was approved in 2022.

The Ministry of Public Works again requested funds in the 2023 budget. Again, Mr. Edghill was questioned, and unable to be forthcoming with a credible response. Unsatisfied with the Hon Minister’s response trajectory, Hon MP Mr. Patterson reminded the Speaker of previous budget approval for the said project under Government buildings: Policy Development and Administration, where the sum expended in 2022 was $2.654 billion. In 2023, $4.045 billion was approved. During the budget presentation, the Hon. Minister said that contracts were awarded for these office complexes. However, he failed to simply state where the complex will be located. Instead, the Hon. Minister said, “Thank you, Sir. To avoid doubt, Sir, the sums quoted by the Hon. Member, the sum in excess of $2.5 billion, was paid to the contractor, Caribbean Green Building Inc., as the mobilisation advance for the office towers. The location of this office complex is if he travelled the Mandela/Eccles interlinked road, which is the gazzetted name of the road, on the lefthand side in the Houston plot. That is where these buildings will be.”

Further questioned regarding the procurement of the land for the construction of this twelve (12) storey office complex, Mr. Edghill stated, “This is a Government project. This is for the development of the state of Guyana. The land acquisitions will be through the competent authority under whose portfolio those lands fall. The

Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, in conjunction with the Ministry of Housing and Water, and His Excellency the President, has always been the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the sole person who can give Government lands. This is Government land for Government buildings. This is not private land we are buying from anybody.” It is still unclear whether the land for the project was acquired or whether this is another mysterious project that will never come to light due to the latest utterances made by Mr. Edghill.

Seven billion dollars ($7 B) of taxpayers’ money was appropriated, and a contract was awarded to ‘Caribbean Green Building Inc’ between 2022 and 2023. However, as of January 10, 2024, taxpayers are yet to see a pile being driven for the foundation of the complex, much less the sob-turning. Nonetheless, Mr. Edghill, at his end-of-year press conference, reported to the nation, “This is a major project. You will have heard us discuss this at Parliament, and provisions have been made. We moved the location to give us a better deal and service.” Further, he stated that “the building will be constructed about 1 km east of the second roundabout at the new Eccles/Haags Bosch roundabout, on some 20 acres land.” In my humble opinion, this is a lacklustre approach by Mr. Edghill and his team. The constant shifting of this project’s location doesn’t augur well for the principles governing project management.

With limited resources at my disposal, I monitored this