1. The Vision and Long-term Goal
The Government of Dominica understands very clearly the importance of having a productive and professionally operated Public Works Corporation to provide excellent service to the public. It is on this premise that the Government established that statutory corporation, Public Works Corporation by Act # 7 of 2006 in November to undertake public works from public and private sector and provide quality service with commercial efficiency.
2. Responding to the Changing Global Economic Challenges
Time and time again we hear the usual remarks from certain members of the public that Government should just arbitrarily assign projects and contracts to the Public Works Corporation and truckers as was done before in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Those persons are apparently failing to understand that during that era the bulk of Government public investment works were funded by the British Development Fund and the European Development Fund (EDF) grant financing and the modality in place then for executing these public projects was the Direct Labour Method. At the time then Public Works Garage was almost the sole owner of heavy equipment on island and operated as the main contractor for road, bridges, airport and other major public developments.
Today however things are totally different, the donor agencies are stipulating to Government that their funds must be used in accordance to international procurement rules. That is to say those projects funded by the EU, AFD, World Bank and so forth must be done by open international bidding standards and more often than not the local contractors are unable to meet the prequalification requirements for tendering on those jobs. These situations are conditions precedent to the financing arrangement and the Government has no control over these things.
More recently Government sought very hard to get the EU to fund the Loubriere-Grand Bay road improvement project as part of a special road maintenance initiative and to consider the Public Works Corporation as a prequalified contractor for that job. That €2.15M ($7.9M) project was actually won by C.O. William a Barbados based construction company. The sad truth was that the Public Works Corporation over-bided on that job.
It is high time therefore that we understand that we must be competitive at what we do. That is the nature of the business today; we must possess some sort of competitive edge in order to maintain sustainability and profitability within a commercial environment which is what the modern construction industry is all about.
The government has recognized that and is working hard in order to get the Public Works Corporation to be viable and to maintain sound organizational principles and strengths to keep consumers satisfied with their service delivery. As the Minister responsible for Public Works I have been pushing to ensure that the Corporation gets the required human, financial, technical and legal means for becoming the commercial entity of choice for private and public works and mechanical workshop services.
3. The Way Forward
o Business Plan
I have instructed the Board of Directors and Management of the Corporation during the last quarter of last year, 2010 for a Business Plan to set the business impetus for growing the Corporation to desired level needed to maintain sound commercial efficiency and enhanced consumer confidence. And I am to happy to say I have seen a document which seek to identify and articulate the key Income Generation streams to be earmarked on for creating the value and growth for maintaining the sustainability of the Corporation. For the next five (5) years, 2011 to 2016 the performance targets, business objectives and ventures of the Corporation will be guided and controlled by the plans and strategies outlined in that Master Plan, its 2011 – 2016 Business Plan.
As we speak the Corporation is able to speak with some renewed level of confidence with the banks in terms of securing financing for working capital for ensuring smooth and efficient operation and maintenance of its primary commercial activities.
Some of the new focuses of extreme interest to the Corporation are as follows:
Commercial operation of the new 128 tonne per hour Asphalt Plant
Procurement of a reconditioned mobile crusher and screening plant for the Bois Diable Tarrish Quarry. This is to ensure the residents and businesses of the Eastern District can assess cheaper source of building material while at the same time increasing the quality of roadbase and general construction material.
Getting the Corporation qualified as the recognized Automobile Licensing Inspection Centre for certifying vehicles for the licensing authority.
Remodeling of the workshop and training mechanical technologists and customer service representatives for development of a service centre to service and maintain Government vehicles.
Strengthening and development of a reputable construction and project management unit for undertaking both private and public sector jobs.
o Revitalizing the Credit Worthiness of PWC
Towards the end of December last year (2010), the Government sought to clear all its outstanding (2009/2010) commitments to the Corporation which totaled $3.6M. That was in an attempt to assist the Corporation to regain its financial and credit worthiness with its suppliers, creditors and financiers.
o Leading the way with the Installation of the New Asphalt Batching Plant
The Ministry of Public Works, Energy and Ports was most instrumental in getting the Board and Management to act on installing and commissioning of the new $3M Apollo Asphalt Batching Plant after the former Board allowed that significant asset to remain idle at the PWC compound for 14 months.
The Ministry had to lead the way in getting the manufacturer, Apollo Industries of India to send down their mechanical and electrical engineers to Dominica to install and commission that plant.
The functioning of this new plant is key to the overall profitability of the Corporation since there are already existing supply arrangements to deliver large quantity of asphaltic concrete to West Coast Road Project undertaken by the CR17 Bureau Group.
o Institutional Strengthening and Organizational Performance
Like most businesses the Corporation is expected to experience and face up to the changing demands and forces of the market and global economy. It is necessary therefore for the Corporation to respond appropriately and timely to those changes and emerging challenges if it to remain commercially efficient and effective.
One of the main strengths of the Public Works organization over the years has been the wealth of well trained and experienced technicians, operators and managers who understood very profoundly the nature of the business in which they operated as well as having a sound appreciation of the cost of staying in business. Further based upon critical reviews and evaluation of the organizational performance it is evident that the Corporation needs to be increasing mindful of its cost of doing business. An entity cannot be competitive or profitable if it does not have a solid knowledge of its cost.
The Corporation has since put out job announcements in May for the recruitment of two very senior managerial position, that of post of General Manager and Accountant. Strengthening of the top management of the Corporation is an important pillar in laying the foundation for developing the systems, procedures, value, new service culture and productivity mindset for propelling the organization in a sustainable manner. We need this strong and persistent change of attitude, behavior and mindset predicated on the promise that today is not yesterday and today’s success means new norms and realities of a higher order. It cannot be life as usual and we must be prepared to take our new roles with diligence, purpose and respect.
o Government’s Continued Commitment to the Viability of the PWC
During the last financial year, 2010/2011, the Ministry of Public Works, Energy and Ports spent the greater portion of its recurrent budget on getting work done through the Public Works Corporation. The Ministry paid the sum of $6,860,634.41 on activities ranging from road rehabilitations contracts, asphalt patching, procurement of supplies on behalf of the Corporations, payment of vendors and contractors on the site preparation and installation of the new asphalt batching plant among others.
| Item | Particular | Amount ($) |
| 1 | Settlement of 2009/2010 Road Maintenance commitments | 3,614,961.43 |
| 2 | Asphalt Patching | 843,763.30 |
| 3 | Contracts | 1,302,428.44 |
| 4 | Setting up of New Asphalt Batching Plant | 352,325.89 |
| 5 | Patching – Truckers/Contractors/Suppliers | 469,243.95 |
| 6 | Others (clearing of debris, fuel supply, etc) | 277,911.40 |
| TOTAL | 6,860,634.41 | |
That being said, the Ministry of Public Works, Energy and Ports will continue to pay attention to the matters of interest and significance which will contribute to greater value and better service quality for enhancing the performance standard of the Public Works Corporation.
Government will continue to provide credit support and loan guarantee for capital and recurrent activities of the Corporation. At this point the Ministry of Public Works, Energy and Ports is working collaboratively with the Corporation and their financiers in securing the required working capital for boosting its operations and new plan of action for growing the commercial worth of the organization.
Finally, I wish to remind the employees of the Corporation that the organization is theirs to build and they owe it to themselves and the general public to take greater pride and honour in the service that they offer to the State.
Do not hesitate to tell the habitual late-comers and those who insist on loitering on the compound and on the job site and those who seek to discourage the ambitious and hardworking member of staff; that it is a fair and honest day’s work for a fair day’s pay that will ultimately make the Corporation the viable commercial statutory entity that it can be if we all play our part, responsibly.
I am confident with such renewed staff spirit and culture; the new Board under the astute chairmanship of Mr. Patrick Pemberton will give management and staff the motivation, direction and leadership to make the Corporation commercially efficient and competitive.
That is the hope, the focus, the determination and vision for going forward.
today is wednesday, the chinese have passed right infront the state of the art APOLLO asphalt plant owned and operated by the PWC. i mean comon, a foreign company has paved the road infront the plant owned by the local company. a plant that has not been used for mixing no where close than 30 tonnes of asphalt over several periods. this is bullshit, utter bullshit, i mean come clean, its a shame to pave infront our owned asphalt plant when we have not produced not one tonne of asphalt for this road as yet.
The plan of the PWC is now open which based on my first reading seems to hold promise for a viable PWD. But we must also put in public the things that are affecting the PWC.The public works is not good enough for bidding of the million dollars projects but they are good enough to go and patch holes where there is some government activity for which the government know that they did not budget to do and so can’t pay the PWC after completion.We must learn to give honour where it is due, when the Warner road had the slide I thought that that road would not be used again, it took engineer Labassiere and his men to work on this road and we must all as road users say that this was a splendid piece of engineering, the cuttings on the side of the mountains, the concrete drains, the miracle wall close to the chinese hotel,this was the work of the PWC.Again the viele case road PWC Labassiere and his team,it is to me a pleasure to drive on that road, we talk abot quality, PWC would never give us the poor quality finish and crooked walls that we have on the west coast and now In Marigot,compare these walls to even what was done under the canefield cliff.{nothing compare)
Now letus put in the open that the french man plant in layou was to do his work and was to operate within specific hours, this is not adhered to,he also got those equipments duty free and is now using them to compete against PWC on the west coast road. The Trinidad company came to work on the Roseau valley raod, they also got duty free on thier equipments ,but are in Marigot working for the French man competing with PWC. How could we negotiate and not have PWC get at least 70% of the west coast road supply of the asphalt, the government was aware that PWC had cash flow problems and would be seriously constrained to purchase the material that is required for making the final product and Mr B could not intervene with some brdge financing the the PWC or act as guarantor for them to secure the financing required, we wait after the horse have bolted ,and after the single biggets road project on the west coaast is almost 50% complete and we are pretending that we are on top of the ball. Goverment as the owner of PWD must act always in the best interest of PWC. If only If we had given these opportunities to public works, the asphalt plant would be paid, the garage could be upgraded, there would be funds to give further traning and upgrading to staff, the broadening of PEC works to involve home construction could begin, and even if government has not paid PWC for works outstanding the hard committed workers of PWC would have gotten pay. Mr B put your self in there place only for a day seeif you could deal with that pressure. put everything in the open.knew there
i feeedddddddduppppppp with those trash talking politicians…..is time for bus drivers to put their bus fare to 5.00. to compensate for the wear and tear of their buses on that 4kries road…….we wait tooo long to ACT we waiting until it too late i am SIIIIIIICCCCKKKKK OF THIS RUBBISH……. and i know im not the only one…. time to put fire in their backside so they will understand is for the people they working, not for themselves.
I FULLY AGREE WITH YOU SIR. NO BODY THOUGHT THAT THE WARNER ROAD WOULD BE MOTORABLE AGAIN.
I CAN REMEMBER ATHIE MARTIN HIGHLIGHTED THAT FACT THAT E.LABASSIERE AND PWC IS DOING A EXCELLENT JOB AND I THEREFORE SEE NO REASON WHY PWC COULD NOT DO AT LEAST PART OF THE AIRPORT ROAD OR LAUDAT.IF YOU WERE TO LOOK THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE CUTS ON THE AIRPORT ROAD IS BEING DONE BY A RETIRED PWC EMPLOYEE.
let me first commend the management staff of PWC for their energies into this Business plan something which the former managers did not see fit to do.Hats off to you all guys,it was well deserving!!!!!!!!
Half a century ago Dominica had up to 25 factories dispersed throughout the island.
all were run on renewable energy and adding value to out raw materials.
Today ethnically paralyzed leaders can only beg and give away our resources for nothing.
Instead of giving away our mountains and importing petroleum waste for colas, public works should be:
1- building reinforced concrete roads that will withstand the high rainfall of Dominica.
2. providing local industries material to make blocks, paving stones, banisters etc.
3. custom made and standardized reinforced concrete sub units for construction in the local and the export market.
4 providing silica for a local run solar panel factory.
5. Providing for a local cement factory.
6. Meeting the global warming needs of the Caribbean by exporting locally made concrete wave breakers, sea wall slabs etc.
7. Exporting locally manufactured reinforced concrete slabs for the construction bridges, jetty, highway flyovers…
8. Value added pre mixed cement products of various
specifications (just add water)
9.Manufacturing bathroom, wall and floor tiles
10. A minor portion should be the exportation of raw quarry material.
Until we get out of the mentality that all we can do is give our resources away what we are doing is subsidizing the French who are doing all the above with our resources that they get for nothing and we turn around and import them.
Tell minister Blackmore stop lie.if Letang didn’t hold a press conference he would neva talk.he knows all what the former board and management did and they did nothing.why is it Gadakhan has bitumen to do the west coast road but the hear and soul PWC who does all free work for the can’t.ask him why PWC workers can’t get paid on time.
If you know nothing then say nothing. Stop accusing since you do not know anything about PWC!
dissolve PWC…too many pot holes on the road and i mean island wide…..outsourcing is the solution…
But it is not PWD’s business to fill pot holes for free. Government has to pay them to fill those holes. Blame the government for that.
think for yourself. brother, dont let the government think for you. what benefit would the government have for disolving the corporation, the chinese hotel is the first thing that comes to mind, suppose that were to happen. who would take up the role of public works??? and number two. with all thats going on what would be the percentage going into pockets and under the table. how much of that figure would truely end up in dominica treasury and how much to thee countrys debts to the powers that be.
I am a bit puzzled here. For those who are complaining about the government awarding contracts to foreign firms, what benefit is there to the government to so such a thing? The Bajans don’t vote in our elections.
A few people talked about rigging the bid to ensure PWD wins the contract. How many times would they do that before the funding agencies cut off funding because we refuse to accept the lowest bidder?
Didn’t Roosie think he was conning the Canadians when they were warned about selling passports to foreigners? What happened after? All Dominican nationals travelling with a Dominican passport now require a visa to enter the country.
Sometime we are not as smart as we think we are. Also the foreigners are not as stupid as we would like to believe.
I think the government is on the right track to assist PWD with the knowledge to compete with the foreign contractors, so that they can win the bids on merit. What we need is a competitive PWD that does good work, on time and on budget.
u are indeed confused……
Is the minister not ashamed to let the public know that local contractors are unable to meet the prequalification requirements for tendering on jobs. When will they be ever qualified? As the government responsible for issuing contracts, have you not sort to assist the PWC where help is most needed whether is technical or financial assitance to bring them up to standard. Will you as minister always tell the world that the PWC is not able to meet the basic requirements for job opportunities. I believe this has exposed the government .. Blackmoore has demonstrated that by his long and empty presentation as outlined.. Help save our Dominica.
If anything is to or is working is through the hard work of the acting general manager.He is the only one after being rejected got into the heart and bowels of this entity to let the corporation know just where they are losing and in fact how and what the way forward is.Lets give this individual his flowers while he is alive!!!!!!!!!!
REALLLYY?? THE ONLLLLLYYY ONNEEE? I WILL GIVE YOU TIME TO ADJUST THAT STATEMENT…..ILL COME BACK TO THIS…..
LONG WE NEED LEADERS WITH BALLS!! WHO WILL RISK A LAWSUIT TO UPHOLD WHAT IS RIGHT. IF DOMINICANS WILL TOLERATE PEOPLE BEING CHARGED AND SENT TO JAIL AND FIRED FROM THEIR JOBS FOR SIMPLY EXPOSING WRONG AND SPEAKING THE TRUTH THEN WE DESERVE TO LIVE WITH THAT FEAR AND FOR OUR CHILDREN TO INHERIT IT. ASK DOMINICAN WE SHOULD NOT BE LIVING IN FEAR. IT SICKENS ME TO KEEP SWALLOWING THE TRUTH AND LIVING WITH WRONG.
True say. Hats off to Labie! The stone the builder refused shall be the head corner stone!
THAT IS SO TRUE ” THE STONE THAT THE BUILDER REFUSE SHALL BE THE HEAD CORNER STONE”
MORE BLESSINGS MAN LABIE WE KNOW THAT YOU CaN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!
Speech…this is directly from to planning documents of public works. The policy document.
You are absolutely correct- this is a word for word copy of the PWC business plan. As I’ve always said these are not smart enough to fool people with such cow down. This is an act of shame yet too arrogant to acknowledge their blunders.
They can copy all kinds of documents, they can lie, they can send their king spin penguine to chop down those of us who have comon sense- the fact remain that truckers are denied a living, PWC workers can’t work, unemployment is severe and foreign businesses and businessmen are gathering our tax dollars and shipping that money out of Dominica. There can be no excuses for such an assinine act on the part of the government.
The picture is on the big screen Mr Blackmoore no polishing or lying can distort the truth when the people are struggling.
Very nice speech. One concern though; if the problem is that Public Works over bidded on the project, why doesn’t the government invest in training people in cost analysis surveys? My point is that someone needs to know how to put the company in a position to win bids.
This is insulting , brash and arrogant coming from the government. First of all public works was set up primarily to do government projects. What else ?. With the growth of the PWC the corporation could expand into other business areas and possibly bid projects within the Eastern Caribbean region. Interestingly the government who instituted the PWC is now telling the corporation that they are not good enough and that the PWC must meet the demand of a a changing business environment. What Bull crap. The only business environment that the PWC is exposed to is that which is controlled and polluted by the corrupt Labor party administration.
It is rather unbelievable that a foreign base company could out bid a local company on a public funded project on a little island. The mobilization cost alone should give the PWC a competitive edge. The taxes, work permits, insurances etc should push our entities way ahead of the competitors.
Fair Play?- What Mr Blackmoore and his speech writer must understand is that fair play is perception. I can imagine that the corrupt ones know very well that there is no level playing field. When the livelihood of the people are at stake a government must do WHATEVER it takes to insure the welfare of it’s people. Yes I am insinuating that even if it means cheating and manipulating so as to guarantee that PWC has the winning bid. It is not like these politicians don’t lie and cheat – we know what they do on a daily basis.
But they not good enough for true. Let’s stop being hypocrite.
Please, explain then how comes an entity like Ace is successful? The citizens of Dominica are entitled to demand value for money. It is bad business to insist that a company must be given local contracts simply because they happen to be local.In such a scenario there would be scant need for cost- and quality control! Like in a 100 mts. race there should only be one winner, the best!The unpalatable truth is that there is no need for that expensive asphalt plant right now and it would have to supply material at an operating loss in order to compete. One mistake is enough, don’t throw good money after bad.
what none sense – is that all in the interest of political party. Wow zor Dominichen sort quie.
I wouldn’t even engage you in discussion because you have a great propensity to defy logic
ASK MR BMOORE AND MR DAILEY FOR ME, WHY DIDNT THEY BUY THE CHEAPER ASPHALT PLANT THAT CABINET APPROVED FOR?????
hey the Minister can only do one thing at a time. At least we know now that he reads DNO and takes your comments to heart. He has already gotten a speechwriter as you have pointed out…i think many persons called on him to do tis after he came out with “pay yr Taxes”..lol
give him time he will get there…he shows that he is willing to change for the better
Very well written article. The Way forward for the PWC. Thank you Father that some level of objectivity has been realised in this PWC crisis. I have always reiterated that the PWC is a viable institution. The Business Plan was something that was overdue. The critical areas and ways of improvement were highligted.
I wish the PWC well and the best for the future under the able chaimanship of Mr Patrick Pemberton.
Employees please note that you all have a very vital part to play. Do things right the first time and let professionalsm prevail.
Together and with the Father in the lead we must!
BOSS, …… PLEASE…….BECAUSE IS THE PEOPLE AT THAT LEVEL THAT LETTING DOWN THE CORPORATION, IS NOT THE LITTLE EMPLOYEE..IS THE DECISION MAKERS THAT DONT KNOW WHEN TO GO PUBLIC WITH NONSENSE THAT HAPPENING, TO STAND UP FOR THEMSELVES AND THE DUTIES WITH WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN CHARGED. AFRAID TO SPEAK AND ACT EVEN WHEN IT IS FOR HONOR AND TRUTH
Don’t scream. Make your point! Writing in uppercase (ALL Capital) is screaming.
“I HAVE INSTRUCTED” the Board of Directors and Management of the Corporation during the last quarter of last year, 2010 for a Business Plan to set the business impetus for growing the Corporation to desired level needed to maintain sound commercial efficiency and enhanced consumer confidence. And I am to happy to say I have seen a document which seek to identify and articulate the key Income Generation streams to be earmarked on for creating the value and growth for maintaining the sustainability of the Corporation. For the next five (5) years, 2011 to 2016 the performance targets, business objectives and ventures of the Corporation will be guided and controlled by the plans and strategies outlined in that Master Plan, its 2011 – 2016 Business Plan
right there you are lying mr.bmoore. give credit where it is deserved. the idea to propose a business plan was not yours. but that of the public works management staff who spent countless hours deliberating on a solution to their crippling, no wage, plight. and i will not go further into this particular area.
The functioning of this new plant is key to the overall profitability of the Corporation since there are already existing supply arrangements to deliver large quantity of asphaltic concrete to West Coast Road Project undertaken by the CR17 Bureau Group.
so why is Gardakkan that supplying asphalt for the west coast road??? and why is petro caribe yet to provide bitumen to public works for production…when we let go shell that has been the bitumen suppliers for yearsss???
Finally, I wish to remind the employees of the Corporation that the organization is theirs to build and they owe it to themselves and the general public to take greater pride and honour in the service that they offer to the State.
SO i hope that u can understand that they owe it to themselves, to say NO, when people who i will not name come to corportations management demanding free materials et al for people whom i will not name, because they hold a position that i will not name..
today is allu that reeeedddd vexxx. lololololollololol you all dont have to like my strong critique…..because it is TOTALLLLYYY WARRRANTED. WE HAVE ALL BASES COVERED, DONT THINK FOR A SECOND THAT ANY LONG WINDED ALLEHLUIAH CAN BLIND US FROM WHAT IS HAPPENING ON THE GROUND!!! TEHEHEHEHEH WOOSHHH WELL LOOK RORO
CANNOT BE J.D U TALKING ABOUT. leaders have a duty to say NO when people in high positions attempt to abuse the power of their position, and J.D obviously couldn’t, THAT!! IS WHY HE IS NOT THERE ANYMORE!
I am not buying all of that from the minister. If we read carefully we should notice the double talking , contradicting foot in mouth exhibition. The minister stated that the PWC does not meet bid qualification requirements and in the same breathe stating that the PWC bids are too high. We all know that BS is the order of the day and if a government really want to secure jobs for it’s people that government would do whatever it takes to circumvent the EU bid process/ recommendations. I can assure you that things like that cannot happen in Barbados. The minister ought to be ashamed to claim that the very corporation that was instigated and set up by his administration is now a failure.
When our government and people bash our very own local business entities and claim that our entities are not good enough to perform or to execute tax payer projects this call for a moment of tears and lamentation. How can we expect our local enterprises to grow when we don’t’ go above and beyond to insure their growth through job acquisition and experience.
The naivity of these government administrators is beyond me. The officials of the EU must be laughing at us. The EU expect governments to favor local enterprises. The bid stipulations are just mere protocol. The minister is also yet to explain why it is that the PWC was not selected as a sub contractor on the west coast road. The last time I checked that WC road project was not an EU funded project. Nor was the State Mallice.
the guy was just stating all what went wrong for pwc u sound like one off those that no matter what is said u will not give jack his jacket this is the 2nd time this guy sound like he has his facts strait ALA ron green disdan seems like u will not buy any thing only what uwp selling u will buy.
THE OPERATIVE WORD IN UR STATEMENT IS “SOUNDS LIKE” THATS NOT ENOUGH BRO
Mr.Blackmoore continue to make PROFESSIONALS write your speech cause it makes you sound more “human” lol.anyways thanks for taking the time to address this issue…you got a point in my book.
Sounds like his brother. He writes well.
Could not agree more., except that I never learnt in school that the past tense of bid is “bidded”. In my book it always was, and still is “bid” Must be one of these damned Americanisms that keep creeping in I guess.
no such word as bidded. Just a smoke screen to make you think he wrote it.