Auditor General’s report silent on controversial Bamia school project

While the contractors for the amia Primary School in Region 0 have missed several deadlines nce 2021, this project was not agged or documented in the 2022 Auditor General’s (AG) report. There was no mention of the amia Primary School under the Ministry of Local Government which launched the project in November 2021 or Region 10 which has been exercising some versight of it.

This AG’s report was tabled on ecember 11, 2023 during the 9th sitting of the National Assembly which was held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, iliendaal (Greater, Georgetown). Stabroek News on December th, 2023 reported that the conruction project was given a 20month lifespan in November of 021 and was expected to be comleted in July of 2023.

However, since the contractors were not able to finish the project n time, a new deadline was set ased on an explanation and equest by the contractor.

The new deadline was given as November 16, 2023, and as it ands, the project is not yet ready o be handed over to the Administrative Region.

St8ment Investment Inc the company behind the project was controversially awarded the $346 million contract for the construction of the school.

The company, whose principals are Rawle Ferguson and Kerwin Bollers of Hits and Jams Entertainment along with Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major and Kashif Muhammed of the Kashif and Shanghai football tournament, was formed just a few months before bidding for the project and had no proven construction background.

That in itself should have been a subject of continuing comment by the Auditor General’s Report.

The Auditor General’s Report has been criticized in the past for leaving out controversial projects and focusing on many trivial and immaterial matters.

The project comes under the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and in July of 2021, the bids were opened. Four companies – Bulkan Timber Works Inc ($349,595,065), St8ment Investment Inc ($346,327,748), Orin’s Supreme Enterprise ($348,726,772), and A Nazir & Son Contracting & General Supplies ($340,549,671) – tendered for the project.

St8ment, with the second-lowest bid, was awarded the contract which was signed by the principals of the company and Region 10 Regional Executive Officer (REO) Dwight John.

Since the beginning of the project and up to its current stage, a large percentage of the money was given to the company to complete the work.

During an interview, Region Ten Chairman, Deron Adams told Stabroek News that the project not being completed has serious implications for the region’s development regarding the execution of several other projects.

“I believe we have exhausted all options on that project, we have ventilated our views and our disappointment. Over 100 and something million, we had to save it from going back because had we not written to the Ministry of Finance and asked for an inclusion project, the Government would have then turned around through its propaganda machines, and they would have blamed us for sending back money from the region”, Adams explained on December 4.

He continued “So, what we had to do was write the Ministry of Finance and request that the fund would now be diverted to several