Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo urged Guyanese to flag poor quality infrastructural work in their communities so that the government can take the necessary steps to rectify these instances.With over 40,000 contracts being implemented nationwide, Dr Jagdeo reasoned that the government cannot oversee the day-to-day operations of each project personally, and this is where the citizens’ observations are important.“We’re open, we’re transparent, and we’re encouraging the citizens; If you see public infrastructure being done in your communities and you see it being done in a shoddy manner, speak up. Post a picture online.“We don’t take it as a criticism of the government if you expose shoddy work being done. We have a duty to go and check it out and fix it because we can’t be everywhere and see everything the same time,” he said at his weekly press conference at Freedom House on Thursday.The Vice President said the “largest expansion of infrastructure in the country” is unfolding as part of the government’s plan for people-centered development.However, Jagdeo acknowledged that in some cases, the callous execution of some projects causes needless inconvenience.He said that as the General Secretary of the PPP, he is committed to listening to the frustrations of the people and seeking to have these addressed.Dr Jagdeo reiterated that in these cases the issue is not with the planning of these projects, but with their implementation.“It has nothing to do with planning. It’s just neglect. It’s neglect and people not doing what they should be doing. We pay engineers for a purpose – to make sure that things are done well. But they can’t do so and behave like little gods,” the GS said.He said that the government is not offended or disturbed by the public’s initiative to call out shoddy work. Rather, he explained, the government takes these criticisms in stride and use them as opportunities to improve the quality of service being meted out to the Guyanese public.“What are we here for, if not to improve the public work we do? It is not a failure of the government. In fact, it is the government working to see that we do things well and we get value for money,” he emphasised.He pointed to one example where the government is taking action.Jagdeo said he received complaints about “delinquent” cement suppliers and the government will sanction any errant supplier.At the same press conference, Jagdeo said that small contractors engaged in road works along the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) complained of challenges encountered with cement suppliers. Those challenges include providing smaller quantities of cement and cement with lower-than-needed pounds per square inch (psi).Psi measures the compressive strength of concrete, which is made from cement. A higher psi means the concrete mixture is stronger (Modified press release from the Department of Public Information)The post Jagdeo encourages citizens to flag shoddy infrastructure work in communities appeared first on News Room Guyana.