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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday August 5, 2017
Capital spending improves
-- for first half of 2017, says Harmon By Rabindra Rooplall GOVERNMENT’S capital spending in the initial months of 2017 was slow but improved towards the end of the first half of the year as Cabinet revise the outlook for the second half. This is according to Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, during a post- Cabinet press briefing on Friday. He said a report of spending was presented to Cabinet Wednesday under the Public Sector Investment Pro-
gramme (PSIP) for the first half of 2017. Underscoring that the PSIP with an allocation of $56.75B for 2017 is the main mechanism for government’s spending, Harmon said Cabinet has discussed ways and means of assisting the budget agencies to improve their performance in relation to capital spending. Cabinet was informed of the issues that hindered the implementation of projects under the PSIP and discussed ways and means of assisting
the budget agencies to improve their performance in relation to capital spending. The Minister of State said the procurement entities have been very careful in checking all contracts and that amounted to slowing up of the processes. He explained that ways were looked at to expedite the procurement process, including the recommendation to appoint project management officers in various ministries to effectively speed up all procedures.
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon
Adding that the Finance Ministry will try to facilitate
other ministries with the appointment of project managers, Harmon said this will accelerate all the paperwork hurdles that may be hampering the implementation of various contracts. “Better streamlining of the procurement process from the time that a contract is awarded to the time of mobilisation is given to the contractor to start work will be done. What we are trying to do is narrow that gap so that things can happen at a faster pace,” Harmon said. He said Cabinet also indicated its intention to continue to closely monitor the imple-
mentation of the PSIP as permanent secretaries expressed appreciation for Cabinets intervention. “An assurance was given to Cabinet that the bulk of PSIP projects for the year 2017 will be implemented,” he said. Additionally, Harmon said Guyana saw a growth rate of 2.2 per cent for the first half of this year compared to a 2.0 per cent for the same period in 2016. He said that the private sector’s credit has increased while the exchange rate (US dollars) remained constant.
US$1.4M cleared for fire rescue boat A multi-purpose fire rescue boat for the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) under the Public Security Ministry will be purchased at a cost of US$1.4M. This was disclosed by Minister of State, Joseph Harmon during his post-cabinet press conference Friday at Ministry of the Presidency. Harmon said the contract was awarded to Angloco Limited. The company is an established and reputable British company which manufactures firefighting and rescue vehicles. “It should be noted that the last fire boat that we had here in Guyana–the Forbes B –was put out of service in 1978 after the destruction by fire of
the Guyana Rice Board wharf that was suspected to be an act of arson,” Harmon reflected. “Since then there has been several unsuccessful attempts to acquire a new vessel.” He noted that the port of Georgetown for 10 miles inland from the mouth of the Demerara River is the centre of commercial activities. Operations in this area, he said, includes the storage of petroleum products, import and export of food and industrial supplies all of which are vulnerable to the ravages of fire. Adding that the acquisition of the vessel will fulfill a pressing need, Harmon said the vessel is
An example of a fire and rescue boat
also designed to support shore-based firefighting
by the delivery of large volumes of water for con-
siderable distances inland. “The vessel is also de-
signed to carry out search and rescue missions and marine medical evacuation in our rivers and along the coastline,” Harmon said. Angloco Ltd designs, manufactures and supplies fire-fighting and rescue vehicles and equipment. It has customers in over 50 countries world-wide, supported by comprehensive after-sales service and spare parts back-up. Further under the Ministry of Public Security, Harmon said, there will be $189M in procurement of new and reconditioned vehicles, motorcycles, ATVs, flashlights with sirens for the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and Customs Anti- Narcotics Unit (CANU).