Joseph Harmon
E-government Unit Project Manager Alexei Ramotar said the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) inquiry into the US$32 million project is “no big deal”.
The multimillion-dollar project is being placed under the microscope by APNU Member of Parliament (MP) Joseph Harmon, who on Monday submitted two questions to the National Assembly for response by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds.
The e-governance project has suffered from extensive delays. Two years after its scheduled deadline, the project is now up for modification, the APNU parliamentarian said, as he expressed disappointment at the way it is being implemented.
“We in the National Assembly raised this question about the cable in parts of regions Seven and Eight where councillors indicated that the cable was running above ground, it was exposed to the weather and the question of vandalism,” he said, claiming that the government did not show much concern.
This, he said, is a major concern, positing that there is clearly a case of incompetence.
“The fact the project manager is ought to be someone who understands these things, who can give a proper explanation, we want to know now what is the competence or the experience of the project manager because it seems to me that there is a level of incompetence,” Harmon told GTI in a telephone interview.
Manager Alexei Ramotar
He said too that the Donald Ramotar administration must come clean on the cost the delay has incurred and funds required for the modification.
The APNU member has also called on the prime minister to disclose details surrounding Ramotar in respect to his prior experience with fibre-optic installations, designing and management. His salary and allowances are also coming into question.
But when contacted by GTI, Ramotar opined that Harmon’s concern is “no big deal”. He then pointed this newspaper in the direction of Prime Minister Samuel Hinds for a further response.
Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon had disclosed that the multimillion-dollar project which includes the laying of the fibre-optic cable from Guyana to Brazil will now be completed this year.
The project was slated for completion since 2012, but had encountered a series of problems. When comparing the work completed thus far, Dr Luncheon said installation of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system from Moleson Creek, Corentyne to Charity, Essequibo Coast is progressing faster than the cable being installed between Lethem and Georgetown.
