Senate Debates Amendment to Contractor General Act

Mark Lizarraga

Senators also debated the amendment to the Contractor General Act.  The amendment removes the limitation which barred any Contractor General to return to the public service after his or her term concludes.  This, according to the government, made it quite difficult to find a replacement for Godwin Arzu, whose contract was not renewed after senators pointed out that he had failed to submit reports over the course of several years.  The amendment was approved, but according to Private Sector Senator, Mark Lizarraga, it lacks many important changes that are needed within the Contractor General office. 

Mark Lizarraga, Senator for Private Sector

“This office needs to look at over one thousand contracts per year. This office only has three persons, or had I guess. We are passing a law instead of strengthening that office to weaken it because the way it is set up right now the person was not able to function.”

Michael Peyrefitte

Michael Peyrefitte, U.D.P. Senator

“From a policy perspective we did not believe that a public servant should be disenfranchised from being a public servant in the future just because they took the job of Contractor General. I will tell you it has been very uncomfortable for us at the Attorney General ministry because we have not been doing their job. We are not mandated by law to do their job. From the looks of this contract it seems that if though there was a Contractor General in place given all the parameters that we have to cross that is a legal contract. That is all we can do. We want a contractor general, we have been desperately in search for a contractor general.”