It appears there is a problem at the Public Works Corporation (PWC) in which the corporation is billing the government up to three times for the same project.
This was one of many “fundamental issues” discussed in a meeting between the government and the PWC earlier this week, according to public works minister, Rayburn Blackmoore.
He said the billing process at the PWC is one of the issues that has to be addressed.
“There are instances, as a matter of fact that came out of the meeting, where the state is being billed three or two times for the same activity,” he said.
He pointed out that he, as minister, and the government has the responsibility to ensure that any entity that is being paid, is paid for work that is actually done.
“We have a responsibility, going forward, that the state pays for work done,” Blackmoore said.
The lack of proper communication between management and staff of the PWC is another issue that has to be addressed.
“It was also agreed that there need to be better communication between management and staff and system therefore must be put in place to address that fundamental issue,” the minister noted.”Because surely and clearly, at the meeting we had with the union, there were a number of issues that could have been dealt with by management or the board and they are not really the government or ministry of public works’ responsibility in that regard.”
Another issue discussed at the meeting was making the PWC self sufficient since, according to Blackmoore, it is no longer a department of the ministry.
“Now we have to ensure going forward that the PWC gets to a point where it can achieve its mandate by law because the corporation is no longer a department of the ministry,” he said. “The corporation has to be self sufficient and in order to do that it has to be able to find private engagement but in order to get private engagements you yourself must be competitive and you have to be efficient and effective.”
He noted that as discussions continue between the PWC, the board, the union and the government “we have to frontally deal with some fundamental issues in order to get the corporation to a situation whereby it can be more efficient…”
“There has to be system put in place whereby the corporation itself can survive in the current environment,” he remarked.
Blackmoore said he has received a business plan from the board but commitment was given that unless there is discussion with PWC staff as to what is in the plan, he will not give final approval to it.
The union representing workers at the PWC has been at odds with the government for months over a number of issues including late payment of salaries.
The workers have taken to the streets at least on two occasions.
The union met with the government on Monday and prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, had said he wants more diligence at the PWC.
He also stated that the employees said they were not aware of some of the matters raised by the government at the meeting.
Blackmoore hasn’t come to the point yet, to realize that Dominicans WILL FIRE him if he does not do the country’s work properly.
I see a lack of supervision of work and payment. I see a lack of inspectors, timetable, scheduling and consultants, and auditing. A total lack of public administration.
Those kind of things will not happen with chinese financing.
can someone please explain what he is saying. I really do not understand the thing about they charging them 3 time for the same thing. who is signing off on the payments? Don’t the person read or check out what they’re paying the company for?…….please explain. I only went to school on Sundays in August only, so i have a hard time understanding.
I hope this PWC workers will not let these little games on the part of Blackmore and Skerrit fol them!!?
I supported all you during the strugles for contracts and payment so I hope you all will remember who stood with you and who were putting you al down!
You suffer enough . Its time for change.
This is an election ploy by DLP, and this one will not take us or make us put our vote in your boxes. NO!
Them man trying every little trick in the book to bring back people on their side, but they forgetting how bad they treat those workers just a few month ago. PWC had to demonstrate for their money.
Now Blackmore want to come and play friendly??!!
Change is the way !!
I do not trust this suden righ about turn that is being made by the DLP administration.
All these years all you putting down Public Works, now because elections are coming you all wnat tp pull a fast one, and return to your same ways after we vote for u !!
Well, I want to tell Rayburn and Skerrit they will not fool us . We are still looking for change.
Surely the Government Minister for Finance should be held accountable?
The labour party is loosing popularity everyday. LABOUR MUST LOOSE THE ELECTION!!!! THEY CAN NEVER WIN THAT !NEVER!! CHANGE IS A MUST!! CALL THE ELECTION!!!
So this means that the office responsible for paying doesn’t keep records of payments? How can one job get paid more than 2 or 3 times? I would hold u mr blackmore accountable for the extra payments made.
They take so long to pay public works that public works send the bill multiple times as reminders…… lol… by the way isnt blackmore the one who appointed the board?? So who is he really criticising……
my government giving blows with my shoe. I never saw that coming.
Does Blackmoore realize that there are many people out there who are much much smarter than he is. I do understand that the Labor Party base is predominantly ignorant and some are conveniently blind and dumb.
Project management- Elementary school 101
There is a schedule of activities and values.
The contractor performs the work and is paid for according to the value of work performed. So if the contractor perform completes only 60% of activity A then the contractor is only paid 60% the budgeted cost of activity A less the retention (5%, 10% whatever is in the contract).
The contractor submits invoices with the values completed for the month and the government representatives will verify the value of work completed before signing of on the invoices /approving payment.
I know for sure that the government representatives are fuming at this blatant lie but it is sad that they can’t come out publicaly to embarrass Blackmore.
When are these arrogant ministers ever going to take responsibility for their action – they basically threw the government engineers and technical staff under the bus by saying that the public works had been double and triple billing. This is only possible if the basic rules and protocol are broken just to facilitate corruption.
I just don’t see this happening under the technical staff – the technical division had to be either sleeping , on drugs or completely taken out of the process.
Brothers and sisters, in Parliamentary form of Government, the opposition is the voice of the people. We need to reform that type of Government to make it more representative to our culture and society, because it grants too much power to the Prime Minister who can fire or hire at his discretion.
Because of the proper practice of democratic principles, that will not happen in England from whom we inherited that system; why does it continue across the Caribbean? Because like the African Dictators, we inherited colonialism from the colonizers who left their children in power, but we choose to continue to accept slavery which is why these dictators continue to exist in the Caribbean, particularly in Dominica: (Possie and Grand Bay).
We need to reform our Parliamentary form of Government to make it a more representative democracy to address our people’s needs so we will avoid what is currently happening in the country. If we wake up as a people, no one can behave like he/she is above the law.
Power is based entirely on the acceptability or the rejection by the people, over whom that power is exercised. (JH)
There is a family in Dominica that has a shadow company within the PWC that is funneling business to that company and not to the PW, undermining the PWC in the process while that family is making millions. That has been common know ledge for a long time. Blackmore should be ashamed of himself as a minister of government, that has apparently knowingly allowed this behavior to continue under his jurisdiction.
The time has come for “perestroika: restructuring” and “glasnost: openness” as said in Russia to exist in Dominica.
Here go the Gergesh again.
People the on poor roads rehabilitation is true. Visit the roads for yourself and stop accussing the minister. On the double payment he should make available his evidence on the matter. Public workers the labour u put in is wat u receive in payment. Fellow dominican take a tour on a project being done by public work watch the workers waste time and nasty work. Clean up u all back yard then really lash out on the government.
In any bill of quantity a line item activity performed more than once has to be billed for the times the work activity is performed. Therefore, the minister comment on billing multiple times on occasion comes from a Road Maintenance activity called “Tarish Preparation” however, when it is done there are occasions it is washed out by rain and has to be redone. Now, this activity may take place 2-3 times before Asphalt Concrete Mix is received to patch the road. The later is sometimes the result of the Ministry of Public Works Engineers asking for other areas to take priority over the area that is prepared with tarish, thus resulting in the prolong exposure of compacted material being washed out. Now, this is a billable activity that PWC has to factor since work has taken place and therefore, the it is my view when PWC bills Ministry on the invoice the repeated tarishing must be claimed. This has been a concern on the government side where comments of double billing has been made. Any good business person must bill in that manner, because you are contracting private trucks to carry tarish to replenish the material used/washed out. I just thought the reading public needs to know that to better understand the source of some of accusations by the minister. Note, I am not saying errors might not have been made where an invoice that does not belong in a claim was probable sent, but all matters needs to be ventilated for the public to understand the crux of the matter.
Hon Blackmoore that should be nothing strange to you. When the party operatives are contracted to do work for PWD is that not what they do in order to pay the kick backs to Ministers like you and others??
Usually I agree in part, give a thumbs down here and there, today it was ALL THUMBS UP.
Rayburn Blackmoore ARE YOU INSANE? WERE YOU ASLEEP?
But holate, who is the head of Public Works? Is it another Blackmoore? I doesn’t watch news so please enlighten me.
Nothing seems to be working, roro alone. Time for change.
Blackmore can you tell us whom did the government pay the 2nd and 3rd time, so that we the poor and indigent citizens of this poor country can trace in whose pockets the money went? Did any ministrer benefit under the table?
I am surprised that you have not resigned as Public Works Minister, because this is SUPERLATIVE STUPIDITY to come out with a crap and laughable almost asinine statement like that without telling us that you are investigating this SERIOUS MATTER. Why are you so scared of investigations Blackmore?
A GOVERNMTNT THAT LIES like this corrupt Labour Party cannot serve its people well. No wonder we are so dam poor, lawless, stagnated and corrupt?
How Long?
Not Long!
Please reflect before you criticize. You should not be so drunken with politics. He said they were BILLed but he never said it was paid. There is a fundamental difference.
And if they were BILLED two and three times what does that mean? It could mean the first time they billed nothing was paid hence they sent a second and subsequently a third. Or it could also mean that every time they billed the government paid. What is your POINT??? Either way someone is at fault for not paying which is why a bill was sent more than once or someone over paid two and three times every time a bill was sent… REFLECT on that
Who is perfect in everything be it in business, domestic life and public life? Some of you just love to accuse and criticize others. It is a known fact that whatever the MP and his ministers state, it will never please you. You have already made up you mind to dislike and hate them.
You are very good at that on this Website. Do you know you should be sued for this accusation and defamation of character? Some of you have not yet learned a lesson. You could even cause DNO to lose its Online Business which is operating in Dominica. Utilize your common sense and intelligence if you have any.
@The facts. Why are you Labourites so dam desperate? You sound like an accomplished buffoon, and a doormat of a corrupt regime. Are you benefitting from anything that the citizens of Dominica are being deprived of?
@The Facts Are you the same “Simply The Truth” idiot who was getting all the thumbs down for every blogg you wrote? Was that the reason that you are now hiding behind this new name , ‘The Facts’, but still keep on spewing garbage? YOUR DAM WICKED SOUL!
that post is so idiotic – wow !!
I have never seen how a lie can become a truth. Labour party is famous for twisting the truth
And you are famous for accusing and criticizing them.
We never heard those excuses before the workers decided to demonstrate for their money. The power in people is greater the people in power.
Now you know. Their shady actions are out in the open. What do you have to state for that?
People dont believe this crap…….they that causing that because every time you bill them they are lossing the bills… blame them for that dont blame pwd. they are incompetent in that government
They are using that to side track u the reader and make pwd look bad for them to look good
You are turning it all around to suit you. You made yourself believe otherwise. This is where unfairness set in as imbedded in your heart and mind. Be open and broad-minded. Put the blame where it belongs for the over-billing. Some of you cannot stand to know and hear the truth.
You just running your mouth on radio everyday and even when your mouth slip Tony and them give you mepwuis . keep talking yet your children struggling.
FACTS – are you willing to carry out an audit on the Roseau to Portsmouth road built by the Chenise – because I am almost certain that this road did cost 100 million to do – now this is a fact so I am wondering if there were double and triple billing on that project and by who and to who– one fact , FACT, that must be left out in the audit is the fact that PWD were no where close to that project-except that works did take place right infront of their eyes and door step.
If it is not a department of his then why is Blackmore approving their business plan?
Make up your mind fella.
well just auction pwc
At the meeting with PSU the man was like a momo never said a word., because he knows every word that came from PWC was the truth .When the man comes to PWC and have a meeting with us he says is his meeting no question put all fone away in a box haha par meu.
Blame! Blame! Blame! Criticize! Criticize! Criticize! If diplomas were given for these some of you would excel and receive them.
He was listening to every word you stated. You cannot expect him to talk when probably the entire room of you are talking and probably not giving him an opportunity to talk.
you just another labour apologist….two brothers that running that Ministry. One is an Engineer, one is a lawyer. So between de two of them they not smart enough to know they were being over-billed for years and put a stop to it??? all you fellas good too wi. smh.
Facts speak factually and stop making assumptions by stating ‘probably’ by so stating you are infact saying you don’t know as a fact what transpired at the meeting; i recommend that you begin penning your post by a different name example “probably” or ” insinuator or speculator” and would definetely not suggest ‘liar’ or ‘accomplice’
Mr Blackmore when PWC bill all u and all u can find the bill and u ask to sen it again and all of a sudden it is found , so u must say that . I see all kind of ppl doing job with no supervision . People getting paid for drain clearing and not one drain thats being clear so go do your home work.CHANGE IS A MUST NOT AN OPTION.
mr Blackmoore i have no faith in you and do not believe one bit anything that you saying here
by de way……..who appoints the Board of Directors at PWC anyway
are people understanding the rubbish and foolishness that is coming from a man that was voted to look after the affairs of the people.
pwc is the maintenance pillar of all government infrastructure…
I think they wants to ban it to make way for @#$ company.
shame on allu wicked people.
Hi chien mais dir daille blanc- these guys are really good at lying eh. alla pap bondiuer mi matir
Should we assume that all the time public workd submitting double and triple bills for the same activities those zen zen were paying the bills. Well since they owing public works plenty I can only assume that they did not pay the bills- dumb question Lang Mama.
What to believe then – so all the time they avoiding public works is it because they were ashamed to tell public works that PWC had been over billing. At least they could have used judge Tony to tell PWC stop it.
So how is public works going to pay back that money- pap bondieur I hope PWC is not going to refund tax payer money thee same way some of the garbage bin money came back to the treasury.If so Polic chebais yo la.
Zor who it is that they blaming nuh? Is it the guy with the shovel or tose guys that was hand picked by the same liars to manage PWC. Alas yon mourne wepon mwen nuh. Pouchir Mr Blackmoore pa ca arrest those who over bill government. Lard gad protek wi nuh from those vultures
They lying they lying they lying lying thru their teeth.
My Blackmore I listened to your interview with Kamala this morning. You should have never said the things you said. You just highlighted your incompetence in the office. You indicated that the PWC did not deliver on many projects including one in Cottage and one in Vielle case, yet you were announcing granting them more projects in Portsmouth.. You embarrassed Kamala because she constantly defend you all and at that point she was lost for words. Such utterances force people to sit and think.
child’s play part 6..chucky is getting out of control now..lies lies and more lies..suddenly pwc is the blacksheep just because people demonstrating for their hard earned money..letang self so doh have balls he allowing them allegations to go without asking for evidence in BLACK and WHITE..wat a shame……
Every project should normally have a starting date ,signed by the parties concerned;the starting date and the ending date should both be respected ….after the work is done and inspected ,then payment should be made if the employee is satisfied with what is done…nonetheless this sounds very fishy…how can gov’t pay for jobs that were not done?is the dominican gov’t loosing their mental faculties or are they senile?who are they trying to fool?in case the gov’t paid non-existent bills ,the person that is responsible should be fired on the spot …keeping a budget correctly is very important having someone like blackmoore in this case will lead the country to bankruptcy…put him out ,,,don’t kid a kidder,,,why take people for fools?pay what you owe.end of story.
Doc Love u seem to have problem with my Gen Sec man .You sound so illiterate and stupid .Letang has worked with us well and have led us well.He is a great leader.The fact is some of my co works are too partisan and not joining us when action is taken .I do not believe u have our interest at heart .You too is being partisan ,envious and silly.Do not tak for us.if youwere one of us your story would e different.
Blackmore, if all what you say is true, it show inefficiency on your side as a minister, poor management skills on both government and PWC but more government cause you are the ones paying. Black it show you and the crew has no idea what is happening and have no idea as to how to fix it!!
Backward thinking and regressive method of operation in 2014. Blackmore, this is shameful, and you still in government? It take you guys 14 years to realize you all are not ready yet and has done more damage than good…
isn’t that the same thing as giving projects that are not tendered to companies that have questionable ownerships.
Interesting…invoices getting paid 3 times? The DPSU must challenge Blackmore to present this evidence… I wish Blackmore had exercised this level of vigilance as a member of Government before now…. the bins were overpaid! Good one Blackmore! Change is a Must!
Only now? Who cashed the second and third checks? Kinda sounds laughable but this is not funny one bit.
This minister is a Joke. He is basically accusing public works of fraud which in any society is a crime. Worst again, against the state. Sounds like it is no big deal just communication problems. Who ever paid them should be jailed because it must be part of a conspiracy, for you to tell me you never stopped the practice.
My country is runned by idiots and the whole system is a bloody joke. Why do I even bother??
I ask myself the same thing everyday.
I ask myself the same thing everyday. But at the end of the day, if its yours, you can’t just let a bunch of crooks and idiots walk all over it and destroy it without even trying.
Moving forward, (a newfound phrase of the minister) all what the minister has accused PWC, speaks to(another favorite phrase of his) the ineptness ,incompetence and lack of vision of this corrupt regime.
Notice the contradiction and the arrogance – ( wont take any blame). Whenever he is referring to and pointing out the management failures he isolates himself and the government from that sorrow but then when he is proposing fixes for and at public works he uses the word ” WE”. for example – “we have to frontally deal with some fundamental issues in order to get the corporation to a situation whereby it can be more efficient…”
Whi is the we Mr Blackmoore. is it you and your PS: Is it Skerrit etc.
It is also interesting that after months of silence we are now hearing all this excuses from Blackmore and Skerrit. They avoided the plight of the PWC for so long and now that they realize that the cry of PwC is not going to work out well for them at the November election they are out doing what they do best – lie. Public Works had been double dipping – is this laughable or just plane stupid. The government accounting department aught to be enraged because what they are essentially saying is that the accounts department only recently caught the double dipping party. If that is not so then why are we only now hearing this and why didn’t Skerrit say so when he crushed the last hope of the PWC at the village feast service in Toucarie.
One more thing – What did they tell us when the Venezuela/ Petro Caribe debt and request for payments were made public? Reginald Austri said that there were irregularities in the billing schedule from Venezuela. How much lies can our people tolerate. After all we are supposedly more enlightened- we are smarter , more exposed yet we allow these apostates to think that they are fooling all the people all of the time. Sometimes I even wonder what it would be like if we were all Marlenes or Mamies or even Simeones. actually
If Public Works are overcharging Govt, how comes they have no money? I see it coming a long way down the pike. Govt. excuses to dissolve Public Works Corporation altogether.
What!!!?
“It appears there is a problem at the Public Works Corporation (PWC) in which the corporation is billing the government up to three times for the same project.
This was one of many “fundamental issues” discussed in a meeting between the government and the PWC earlier this week, according to public works minister, Rayburn Blackmoore”.
This is a crime against the state and no one has been arrested?
Are Dominicans that stupid to believe that Blackmore story? How can a Government Minister suggest that PWA is defrauding the state and no action is being taken?
What does the Bible say of a lying tongue?
Well Peter J and I hope you answer the question not necessarily for my sake but for your own conscience.
Do you tink that the government has the moral authority to prosecute people for over charging the government. You’ve heard of the garbage bin bobol and the fertilizer bobol. Did anybody got prosecuted for ripping off the treasury by over inflated prices on used garbage bins.
Now ask yourself the question that Blackmore and his circus will not answer. Who appoints the management and board of PWC and who bird watches the management team. Now if the management team is overcharging the government shouldn’t the management be fired or prosecuted. Are the members of the board and or management team party loyalists? Certainly they are not pro opposition party.
Mr. Latang came out of the meeting telling us that things went well he should allow someone else to deal with the Skerrit and Blackmore deceptiveness it’s time for the PWC employees and members of the Union to accept that the Govt will find all excuses not to pay the PWC corporation Blackmore should be a shame of hmself.
PM said he will not put any money into PWC so this move by his minister is not surprising to any one who see how Skerrit is destroying every thing that he touches.
But I call on all Dominicans regardless if you have a job or not it’s time for these guys to be voted out of power You have the power exercise your Constitution rights
So you mean now allu realising that the gov is being billed two or three times for the same activity…..so did you all pay the 2nd or 3rd time????? and if so whose pocket the second and third payment went into.
total crap about government is billed three times for the same project…who Blackmoore and them think they fooling..according to mr crime chief..two words..UTTER-RUBBISH
only now mr blackmoore u can talk
only NOW All you know and SEE that. If that is the case INCOMPETENCE on both side even more so the government. Since when they are charging you for the same project 2 to 3 times? That sounds bizzare? What is happening in DA? Papa Bondieu help us
I have said before and I will say it again, as long as Letang is General Secretary of the PSU, don’t expect the Government to take this feller serious. The man is weak and should resign. If the PWD Corp is billing the Government approximately three times for the same activity, where is the money going to. Why can’t the workers get paid on time. Letang allowed the Government to make those accusation of impropriety against an organization that employs the people who he is fighting for and he does not ask them to present evidence. Board members of the PWD Corporation must defend their Corporation immediately, or their will be tons on speculations. We must not forget, board members of the Corporation are hand picked by Government. Change is a must, as far as I am concerned, does not only apply to the Skeritt led administration but also to Letang.
Spectators are the best players. Step forward; you can do better than either and stop polluting the air virus.
Now that the Pwc is demanding they get paid. You all come up with this crap.
See their modus oporandi, attack anyone who question their inability to govern the country honestly.
All this time they’ve silent on all these issues at pwc untill protest.
I would like to know who does caribbean concrete really belong to
….a very good and pertinent question!!
We all know , dont we
Blackmoore doh come wit your foolishness show the Dominican people the evidence. The people tired of all U chatting all u nonesense without coming with d evidence.
so, how long has this been going on for?
If Skerrit and his ministers wish to privatize PWC for their on personal again – then let them go ahead – all this back and forth in an effort to justify their actions in pure BS.
Dominicans are too scared to make an issue over this or any other for that matter – let us just be done with it.