95% of contracts on track, Jagdeo assures concerns over 5% will not be ignored

Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo affirmed that the government is serious about guaranteeing transparency and accountability in the expenditure of public funds. As such, any concern raised is being addressed.

The Vice President, speaking at a People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) press conference on Thursday, delved into President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s recent meeting with errant contractors and public sector workers.

A majority of the contacts- some 95%- are on track and Jagdeo assured that concerns over the remaining 5%, which are facing some setbacks and challenges, would not be ignored.

Cognisant of these challenges, Jagdeo said the government is addressing all concerns brought to it about contracts and the execution of work.

“We are going to laser in on the five percent where we have projects… you can’t get to perfection in this situation but we are not going to ignore the concerns of people.

“Of the five percent of so not done on time, done shoddily or you have some elements of corruption, we didn’t sweep this under the carpet. The President didn’t sweep this under the carpet,’ the Vice President stressed.

The government’s focus on these projects, the Vice President contended, demonstrates how conscious the administration is of people’s needs.

And he reminded those gathered at the press conference that he has been engaging public sector workers on ways to improve procurement and monitoring efforts locally.

In an early Tuesday morning meeting at State House, Georgetown, President Ali met both errant contractors and government workers whose shortcomings may be impacting the execution of some projects countrywide.

The President made it clear that contractors whose projects will be incomplete by yearend and four months or more beyond the completion date will be sanctioned.

Jagdeo said that engagement was necessary to demonstrate the government’s focus on transparency. He also noted that the President’s meeting was a show of “tough love” so that the public sector workers, be it Ministers of Government, Permanent Secretaries, engineers or other technical staff, could diligently execute their responsibilities.