Local Govt minister ‘horrified’ by poor quality work

Minister in the Ministry of Local Government Rudranath Indarsingh says he is horrified by the quality of work municipal corporations accept from special purpose companies. He said this yesterday while speaking to officers of the country’s municipal corporations during a workshop on procurement practices and building and completion certificates. The workshop took place at the auditorium of the Chaguanas Borough Corporation office, Chaguanas. “I have seen work done in my constituency and if I was part of the monitoring or quality control process I would not have signed off on payment when I see some of the work delivered,” said Indarsingh.

“Contractors seem not to have a sense of pride or a sense of value concerning the development of this country,” he said. Indarsingh admitted that citizens complained about the state of Local Government in relation to delivery of services and efficiency and said it was up to the municipal corporations to ensure a high standard was adhered to in relation to procurement processes. “People continue to say that tax-payers money is being wasted and they worry about the state of the treasury,” Indarsingh said. Indarsingh said ministries must have the sense of responsibility to ensure that work carried out by contractors had proper monitoring mechanisms and quality control. He said the issue with most constituencies were a part of rural neglect over the years but gave assurances that this was an issue local government was prepared to tackle.

Speaking at the workshop, director of contracts of the Central Tenders Board, Indrani Rampersad, warned officers not to accept only the minimum criteria for tenders. She advised them to ensure that tenders met all the recommendations and said they needed to be thorough when perusing applications. “Sometimes counterfeit Vat and BIR certificates are sent with tenders and these are things that must be checked thoroughly,” said Rampersad.