Georgetown, Guyana — Construction sector analysts and social commentators have raised concerns that several high-profile contractors allegedly escaped scrutiny at President Irfaan Ali’s 5 a.m. meeting with government ministers, engineers, and contractors, where the president aired grievances over numerous delayed and stalled projects.
Notably absent from the list of companies addressed were Tepui Group Inc., linked to Mikhail Rodrigues (known as “Guyanese Critic”), and St8ment Investment Inc., associated with Hits & Jams Entertainment. Other contractors, such as Avinash Construction and Metal Works and BM Property Investment Inc., responsible for the Christ Church Secondary School project, also avoided scrutiny. Vals Construction, handling the Pirara Bridge project in Region 9, was similarly not included in the meeting’s review.
The November 12 session, aimed at tackling the backlog of delayed public projects, has spurred questions about the integrity of government oversight. Critics noted that contractors with known connections to prominent personalities or influential entities were conspicuously absent, fueling allegations of favoritism within the contracting and oversight process.
President Ali’s remarks underscored his frustration with what he described as negligence among contractors, particularly as the fiscal year draws to a close and the 2025 General and Regional Elections loom closer. “If you don’t have the right structure, organization, and attitude, you’re starting negatively because you’re not conditioning your mind for success,” Ali told officials, underscoring the need for stronger project oversight.
Throughout the session, Ali chastised government officials and project managers for failing to enforce deadlines, citing repeated absenteeism among both engineers and contractors. Addressing Human Construction Services, Ali noted pointedly, “They come to the Ministry of Education to collect payment, but they can’t come to a meeting where they’re behind on the project.” He warned that projects still incomplete by year-end could face termination, adding that non-compliant contractors might also be blacklisted from future contracts.
Despite Ali’s calls for accountability, some observers are questioning why certain prominent contractors with histories of project delays were absent from the meeting. “If we’re serious about transparency, the government must ensure all contractors are treated equally,” one commentator remarked. Calls have emerged for a full review of contracts and project progress to address concerns over perceived preferential treatment.
Following the meeting, Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC) Nigel Hughes took to Facebook and chided the government’s approach. In his first post, Hughes stated, “The ultimate admission of failure is when you parade all your ministers, permanent secretaries, and their selected contractors at dayclean before the nation, confirm and demonstrate their incompetence and inadequacies then pretend that it’s not your failure but somebody else’s. At this point, there is really only one option. Start packing.”
In a second post, Hughes continued, “Can anyone identify any head of state who summoned his cabinet then named and shamed them in public without accepting responsibility for the obvious failure of his government? This is straight out of Chairman Mao’s playbook. In normal societies after such an admission, one would tender their resignation.”
The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) also issued a statement, urging the government to publish a comprehensive report on the progress of all current projects, particularly those awarded to firms with connections to influential figures. As public scrutiny builds, pressure mounts on the government to clarify its criteria for contractor accountability and ensure consistent standards across all contracts.
