Many years ago I heard of the Peter Principle. I have lived to see it in operation in Guyana. The principle is simply one that sees someone promoted to his level of incompetence. It is a case where some people get a job because they have been in the lineup having come through the ranks.
These people have their limitations but someone in the hierarchy of the various entities tries to promote them to a higher level. The man in the street talks about square pegs in round holes. This is the case of the government and some people in the society.
Examples abound. It has been seen in the diplomatic postings. The most glaring has been the posting of Charrandass Persaud as High Commissioner to India. Who can forget his abuse of an Indian professional over a dog? He was said to have been recalled. There have been cases of certain Government Ministers who do not have a clue about what is required but who take pride in the position and simply strut around.
There are reports of the Peter Principle being at work in the Guyana Police Force. Paul Slowe evvel said that the head of the force cannot write a proper sentence. This man evvel said that Guyana was 83 square miles. The government deliberately sidelined competent senior police officers for its own pick with the result that the Guyana Police Force is being mocked at every turn.
There was the case of a senior immigration rank who was reportedly transferred for honouring a decision of the court. Her supervisor either acted on instructions or was ignorant of the law. Public reaction caused the Guyana Police Force to issue a statement that the immigration officer never received a letter of transfer. The statement contended that the immigration officer, a Deputy Superintendent, was not transferred.
In short, reports of the transfer were greatly exaggerated. But the evidence was that the woman who was stationed at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport was not allowed to report to her place of employment the next day. To add to the episode, she had to report for a meeting at Police Headquarters early Monday. The police statement was issued after that meeting. And the officer is not commenting for obvious reasons.
Already, she has been ignored for promotion. Someone less competent is recommended for promotion ahead of her. But the greatest application of the Peter Principle is seen in the award of contracts to whomever raises his hand. The person needs not have any knowledge of road construction or construction of any sort.
One was granted a contract to construct a well on West Demerara. That project is still to get underway. The mobilisation fee was reportedly collected. The most publicised case of the Peter Principle involved Charrandass Persaud who publicly admitted that he has no knowledge of road construction. He was however given a construction to construct a road in Berbice.
It was a similar case involving a group of entertainers who were given a contract to construct a school at Bamia on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway. That school should have been constructed two years ago but its completion is still being awaited. Now there are the awards of road contracts to anyone. Charrandass Persaud said as much.
Contracts are generally awarded following a tender process. In this case there is no known tender process. A government goes into a community and announces the awards of the contract. Many of the people who secured contracts came from locations that the government want to impress or gain the support of the people. And those who got the road contracts were elated because they were getting a small sum of money; money that they did not have.
They had no road building equipment or even money that could be used as security deposit. This has to be part of the government’s programme of providing 50,000 jobs. The person who secured the contract would be provided with a sum of money as a mobilisation fee. Some used this fee to rent a front-end loader or some small grader to prepare the foundation for the road which is more of a footpath. For the greater part, these are concrete roads so the ready mix concrete had to be procured. Things went well for a while in some communities.
On completion of the section of roadway allocated to the contractor who would hire workers from the neighbourhood, the person would end up with two or three million dollars having covered expenses. That is seen as empowering people. But as can be expected, some of the roads deteriorated in short order. It transpired that the supplier of the concrete provided a substandard mixture.
The word is that the government has halted these road contracts having suspended the purchase of the ready-mix concrete. So the projects have stalled and those who saw the government’s act as benevolence are now crying. The amount of money they anticipated is not coming. The labourers who were happy at the intervention are moping. And the cry, now, is that the government awarded these small contracts and conspired to make these created contractors, fail.
Only in Guyana with its vast financial resource can such a thing happen. The government is boasting about the money it is spending on infrastructure but it cannot boast about the returns. What it has done is to make many people believe that they are contractors. It has created false hope among the poor in the society. Can these people tender for contracts? Certainly not. They do not have the required resources as stipulated by the contract. They must have a certain number of equipment to undertake the project. They must also have an engineer.
This is just a case of building up people to feel that they are not what they think they are. The Peter Principle is in full play. It is this principle that allows for roads and bridges to collapse within a few months of construction. And just asking. Has the Attorney General ever won a case for the Government? He never won any for the Guyana Energy Agency.