Penalties including blacklisting contractors possible when procurement laws are updated – Nandlall

The government wants to find ways of ensuring that contractors do quality work in a timely manner. As such, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall says Guyana’s procurement laws will undergo a review this year.

Nandlall told reporters on Monday that the Procurement Act is now over two decades old and it must now undergo a review.

Such a review, he said, is important to guarantee transparency and accountability in the execution of contracts, and to ensure that quality work is delivered on time.

The government has increased its capital expenditures- that is, spending on long-term assets like roads, hospitals and schools- but there have been several notable project delays. Worker and material shortages and poor management are among the explanations given for delays or shoddy work.

Now, Nandlall said the government is exploring penalties for any delays and shoddy work done.

“… there is a regime of penalties that will be imposed when there is breach of those obligations.

“There will also be a mechanism that will allow for a fair and transparent system of blacklisting of contractors who are guilty of repeated breaches of contract and delinquency in the discharge of their contractual duties,” Nandlall said at a press conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Georgetown.

He, however, clarified that any such revision of the existing law would only cover public contracts and not any private business.