– Ganga PersaudRegional officers and citizens should equally share the responsibility of ensuring effective execution of infrastructural projects to truly achieve the concept of value for money.This is the view of Local Government and Regional Development Minister Ganga Persaud.Persaud told journalists last Thursday that all Guyanese should be included in the monitoring aspects of projects. But he said that some choose to trump up allegations and accusations without exercising civic responsibility.He was at the time responding to a query whether additional staff in the Regional Public Works Departments would enable proper monitoring and evaluation of infrastructural projects executed at the Regional level.Local Government Minister Ganga Persaud“We gone and search cupboards to find skeletons instead of paying attention to what is happening. All citizens need to recognize that Government is putting its business public and needs assistance for effective monitoring and evaluation,Cheap Jerseys Wholesale,” the Minister said.As such, additional strength in the Regional Public Works Departments would not necessarily assist in ensuring projects are properly executed.“It is always satisfying when you can have more hands on deck so to speak because there is a clich? which say many hands make work lighter. Indeed we have paucity of human resources in some of our Public Works Department.”According to Persaud, this paucity is because most, if not all, works are contracted, “so, gone are the days when Public Works Departments would have been responsible for doing infrastructure and other developmental maintenance works.”“What our Public Works Department does now is Monitoring and Evaluation and preparing of designs, drawings and bill of quantities and contract documents,Wholesale NFL Jerseys,” he said.The Auditor General’s Report 2011 revealed numerous unflattering findings of some Regional projects, pointing to poor monitoring and evaluation of major projects within the Regions.For instance, the report highlighted that the Region Five administration accepted shoddy works executed by contractors consequently wasting millions in taxpayers’ money.The report disclosed that the Region did not properly monitor projects to see construction to specifications and in some instances certifying incomplete works as satisfactorily completed.The sum of $1.514M was expended to construct a reinforced concrete structure at Novar,Cheap NFL Jerseys, East Coast Demerara. A physical check of the project showed that the culvert was poorly constructed– not aligned to the existing road and roadside drains.The report also emphasized overpayment to contractors, non-clearance of Advances,Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys, and lack of maintenance of logbooks among others.According to the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Collin Croal, who was also present at the press conference, many of the queries raised in the Auditor General’s Reports not only focus on monitoring of projects but on procedure.“The lack of staff does not take away the responsibility for responsible and accounting Officers to ensure procedures are followed along the guidelines,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping,” he said.Croal pointed out that at the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) level there are Works Committees which are responsible for monitoring and so it is not only the Regional Administration that is supposed to monitor projects.According to Persaud, politicians in each Region form part of the RDC who comprise a large part of the Works Committee.“These are the persons who sign on to the certificates to say works completed and say works satisfactorily done. Councillors of RDC need to pay attention a little more attention to thoroughness,” Persaud declared.He added that the Ministry had studied interventions into the various departments and programmes at the Regional level. One such intervention was in the Public Works Department and the Ministry is aiming to increase staffing with the requisite knowledge and skills.However,Wholesale Jerseys, having staff alone would not bring any significant changes since equipment would be necessary to complement the increased strength.