West Indies Cricket Fans Forum
The frame work conditions for the new Demerara Harbour Bridge Project
The frame work conditions for the new Demerara Harbour Bridge Project seem to be changing almost on a weekly basis! First, the project should be developed by the bidding contractors under the "design, finance, and build" model. This was in November 2021. Not to my surprise, only bids were made by Chinese contractors. Others, for example European, US, or Brazilian contractors would not be able to offer financing without careful due diligence of the project. Hence, we ended up with Chinese bidders, some of which had been banned by the World Bank in the past for corrupt behaviour.
Then, Kaieteur News (https://www.kaieteurnewsonl... reported on January 29th, 2022. that the new bridge will be financed entirely by the government out of the national budget. 100 million USD had been allocated in the proposal for the budget 2022. Total costs were expected to be about 250 million USD. There was no debate or explanation given for this dramatic change.
Now, on February 8, 2022, we hear that the selected contractor China State Construction Engineering Corporation has been dismissed. What is going on?
The fair thing do at this point is to repeated the entire bidding process given that the conditions for the project have fundamentally changed from the situation in 2021. If the government has decided to finance the project completely on its own, then contractors are no longer obliged to organise financing as they were told last year. This might now attract more reputable bidders to submit a concrete proposal.
I therefore urge VP Jagdeo to halt all negotiations and start the bidding process from scratch. This would be the fair thing to do! I would also be transparent and in the interest of the Guyanese people, who are expecting that this project ends as success story without massive budget overruns. To prevent this from happening, careful planning is necessary and the bidders need to know the exact details of the project. Overall it seems to me that the project has been rushed.
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Guyana Diaspora Forum
We have a large database of Guyanese worldwide. Most of our readers are in the USA, Canada, and the UK. Our Blog and Newsletter would not only carry articles and videos on Guyana, but also other articles on a wide range of subjects that may be of interest to our readers in over 200 countries, many of them non-Guyanese We hope that you like our selections.
It is estimated that over one million Guyanese, when counting their dependents, live outside of Guyana. This exceeds the population of Guyana, which is now about 750,000. Many left early in the 50’s and 60’s while others went with the next wave in the 70’s and 80’s. The latest wave left over the last 20 years. This outflow of Guyanese, therefore, covers some three generations. This outflow still continues today, where over 80 % of U.G. graduates now leave after graduating. We hope this changes, and soon.
Guyanese, like most others, try to keep their culture and pass it on to their children and grandchildren. The problem has been that many Guyanese have not looked back, or if they did it was only fleetingly. This means that the younger generations and those who left at an early age know very little about Guyana since many have not visited the country. Also, if they do get information about Guyana, it is usually negative and thus the cycle of non-interest is cultivated.
This Guyana Diaspora Online Forum , along with its monthly newsletter, aims at bringing Guyanese together to support positive news, increase travel and tourism in Guyana and, in general, foster the birth of a new Guyana, which has already begun notwithstanding the negative news that grabs the headlines. As the editor and manager of the publication, I am committed to delivering Blog entries and Newsletters that are politically balanced, and focused on the positive ideas we wish to share and foster among Guyanese.
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