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$6-B waste
By Durrant Pate & Carlalee Gowie
Cost overruns on government projects gobbled up $6 billion in eight years, a Sunday Herald analysis of the Contractor General report has revealed.
Data for two years — 1999 and 2000 — over the 10-year period 1995 to 2004, which would have pushed costs over the $6.5-billion mark were not available. The data shows 1997 as a record year when contracts shot their budgets by $1.8 billion. There was no evidence linking the excess spending of tax dollars to the general election that year, which was won by the ruling party.
The Contractor General in his 1997 report to Parliament remarked that some of the projects overran their original cost because of variations; changes in the scope of work; fluctuations in labour and material costs, as well as poor performance on the part of some contractors and clients. The services of some contractors had to be terminated, after they failed to diligently execute projects, particularly those awarded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture.
In three cases contracts awarded to National Technology Engineering Limited Services’ (NTELS) to work on schools ran into problems.
The first contract to do extension and refurbishing on the John Mills All-Age School (My old school) was terminated and the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) given the mandate to manage the project. The JDF subsequently hired General Construction Development to complete the work.
Another NTELS contract to construct a building and library at the St. Jude’s Primary School exceeded by seven months the contract period and the JDF was called in. Both contracts overran the original budget by $3.33 million and seven months. The NTELS was also at it again regarding work at St. Patrick’s Primary School, where the company overran its budget by $1.31 million and exceeded its contract period by eight months.
Estimated cost overruns
Year Cost
1995 $186.86 million
1996 $1.06 billion
1997 $1.8 billion
1998 $766.74 million
1999 Figures not available
2000 Figures not available
2001 $321 million
2002 $105 million
2003 $1.56 billion
2004 $252.7 million
$6-B waste