Hits & Jams bosses defend GYD $346 gov’t contract to build school
Entertainers Kerwin Bollers and Rawle Ferguson
Businessmen Rawle Ferguson and Kerwin Bollers better known for their role and involvement in the entertainment industry, have defended their competencies to bid like every other Guyanese for available contracts in any area that seeks to advance the developmental agenda for Guyana.
The two were approached by BIG Smith News Watch for a comment on the public ridicule they have been receiving after news broke that ‘Statement Contracting Company’ where Ferguson is named as a principle, was awarded a GYD $346 Million contract to construct the Bamia/ Amelia’s Ward Primary School in Region 10.
“When it comes to experience, I don’t think people should ask any questions about Statement (the contracting firm) or the principles of statement. But nevertheless we are managing the project, getting the right technical people and experienced people to do specific jobs and the people of Linden and the kids of Linden will be educated in a comfortable and very good building. So I don’t think it’s an issue. To be quite frank, I started as a DJ. I am now a radio/ television station owner and now doing government building contracts” Rawle Ferguson told BIG Smith News Watch.
Ferguson spoke in the context of the need to diversify when times and things change and that, according to him, is exactly the direction in which he and his team are moving. He spoke to the lull in entertainment activities as a result of the coronavirus pandemic as an example of how things and circumstances can change.
“If we were to just sit and focus on entertainment for the past two years, nothing was being done because of the pandemic. So you have to diversify, you have to push the envelope, you have to push yourself.” The new player in the construction industry noted.
Ferguson told BIG Smith News Watch that Hits and Jams Entertainment and its principles have over the years managed events that saw billions passing through their hand and that they have also made revenue for the state. He stressed that the contract which was awarded to them, carry a meagre sum compared to the money they have been handling over the years.
“To be quite frank, we have been managing projects in the billions for a very long time…you know about Jam Zone, you know about Guyana Carnival, Kashif and Shanghi tournament. These are really big hospitality/ tourism projects. Take for instance, carnival would have brought about 50 thousand people the last time and you did that by $1000 per person. You will get like $10 billion dollars and you do vat from that you will get $ 1.4 billion. So we have been making money not just for our citizens but for our government for quite some time in our country.” Ferguson told BIG Smith News Watch.
The entertainment boss turn building contract manger explained that while ‘we’ (hits and Jam principles) are not plumbers and masons, the intention is to ensure that the government of Guyana gets the best finished product for the tax payers’ money.
The Hits and Jams bosses noted that they have over the years proven themselves to be very good project managers and this new venture will see no shift from its track record of proper project management.
