At the weekend, President Joseph Boakai appointed several individuals among which is the former Deputy Minister for Administration at Public Works in President Ellen Sirleaf’s government, Roland Lafayette Giddings.
Giddings, now nominated Minister of Public Works following an ongoing vetting process though subject to confirmation by the Liberian Senate, had been one person whose nomination multiple sources within the Presidential circle termed as a “wrong choice.”
Several stakeholders in the construction and engineering sector described Giddings’ nomination as “business as usual” due to what these Liberian companies termed as his ‘arrogance shown Liberian-owned companies over Lebanese and Chinese companies and his biased as they also have the requisite expertise for the job.
Critics are still blaming Giddings, along with his former boss, Gyude Moore, for the establishment of East International Construction Company, a Chinese-owned company that was established as a hardware store, and later transformed into a construction company, which was awarded US$89.5million for the construction of the Roberts International Airport and several community roads during the regime of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
According to sources, the company was unable to secure funding despite the ratification of the contractual agreement by the Legislature, thereby stalling East International’s commencement of works on the RIA and other community roads.
Giddings is currently the consultant at the East International, under the firm, Imperial Consultancy; therefore, there is this uprising tension that any appointment of Giddings in President Boakai’s leadership to said post would amount to a serious conflict of interest.
It can be recalled that controversial rights advocate, Martin K.N. Kollie, and three Liberian construction companies, MANDE, Westwood, and African Constructions, lobbied against the awarding of such a lucrative road contract to East International, thus leading to former Minister Moore and Giddings allegedly blacklisting these three Liberian construction companies from being awarded road contracts for three years.
Before the ratification of East International agreement, several lawmakers in the 54th Legislature contended that the company had no prior work history anywhere in the world, and therefore, the amendment of the contractual agreement between East International and the Government of Liberia, amounting to over US$100million, was met with stiff resistance as the former Margibi County Senator, Oscar Cooper, was one of those against the awarding of the RIA and other road works to East International.
Meanwhile, some employees of the Ministry have contended that the former Deputy Minister Giddings also had a terrible working relationship, and Giddings’ critics are urging the Liberian leader not to consider the former Minister back to the Ministry.
Recently, while appearing at the Liberian Senate, outgoing Public Works Minister, Madam Ruth Coker-Collins, informed Senators that East International, the company doing construction work on the Roberts International Highway, was unable and technically incapable to do the work in line with the contract, and that the international company lacks the technical and financial capability to do the road within the 36 months required by the contract, thereby calling on the Senate to review the contract.
East International was established in 2013 by Kelvin Boumah, a Liberian national, and some Chinese investors. It can also be recalled that while serving as Deputy Minister for Technical Services, former Deputy Minister, Victor Smith, awarded the company the Gaye Town Road for concrete pavement.
However, after the construction of the road, the Works Ministry, then under the leadership of former Minister Antoinette Weeks, described the road construction as “substandard and a mess,” thus leading to a fallout between former Deputy Minister Smith and Weeks.
It was under Minister Moore and Giddings’ leadership that East International was awarded 32 feeder roads for concrete pavements.
