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Member of Parliament (MP) Ganesh Mahipaul says the Peoples Progressive Party-led (PPP) administration has purchased a barge for US$900,000.
MP Mahipaul says there are “no proper accommodations for passengers” on the vessel sourced from the Dominican Republic.
“This tugboat was purchased by the Ministry of Public Works for $900,000 USD which is around $180M (Guyana Dollars).
“It is an old tugboat that was brought into this country by Mr. Larry Singh from the Dominican Republic. I am told which is yet to be confirmed, that this boat is 26 years old,” Mahipaul said in a Facebook post recently,
MP Mahipaul, a member of the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) stated that “It is used currently to ferry vehicles and people across the Essequibo River.”… there is no proper accommodation for passengers. The big question is why purchase an old tugboat at such a high cost? Why could the government not purchase a new vessel with proper comfort for the traveling population?” the MP quizzed.
The MP contends that the Ministry of Worlks bought the tug for Mr. Singh, who had initially brought the vessel into Guyana for his own purposes. “Is this not an oil producing nation? I agree there is need for additional vessels, but not old, used vessels at such an exorbitant cost. This is wasteful spending. Help us understand this.
Last year, former Minister of Works and Member of Parliament David Patterson accused the government of purchasing old, very used generators to attempt to boost its power supply. A number of the generator sets are yet to come online.
