Synergy Holdings Inc CEO Fip Motilall says that the government made a bad move to terminate his firm’s Amaila Falls road contract and contended that he is owed more than US$1M for works completed.
Yesterday morning, Works Minister Robeson Benn announced at a media briefing that the government had terminated the US$15.4M contract because of long delays by the contractor in completing the project. (See other story on page 3.)
Motilall during a press briefing yesterday afternoon told the media that he was working on an agreement made with the authorities to complete the project by April this year, however, the termination of the agreement caught him off guard. He said that there were several delays associated with the controversial project and sought to explain these.
He said that he was given approval to carry out works on the project in January last year adding that weather conditions at the time affected the project getting off the ground. Motilall, who had previously shunned the media, said that “even in spite of this we worked, we worked and we cleared the area, I requested the September date to be extended to December”, and he noted that it was mutually agreed to by the government.
Of critical importance, he noted that there was another delay in the project when the developer of the Amaila Falls Hydro project, Sithe Global, along with the government brought in a Chinese firm to examine the road project. He said that it was decided at the time that the specifications for the project needed to be modified.
“The road was specified as a five-meter wide road, being 16 and a half feet”, he stated and according to him, “the Chinese came and made comments on the road and said it wasn’t wide enough”. He said that his company completed several engineer designs which indicated that the original design was ok. “All my designs were approved”, Motilall noted, adding that the designs were even tested to the approval of the authorities.
“All of a sudden in May (2011) we had the problem of how wide the road was to be” he noted, adding that the government hired a company to evaluate the road. He said at this point, the specifications for the road were “poorly written” compared to what was proposed by his company.
He said that though this was the case, “I knew what we needed to do, I decided …we bid low, way below, not because I wanted to come and make a big profit ..I did it because few roads built in Guyana.. some are good and some are poor.
Motilall stated that following restructuring of the design, which was completed in August, there were additional delays thereafter mainly due to the weather, which affected the laying of laterite in sections of the 8-section road.
“So we had a 3 to 4 month delay of weather and a 3 to 4 month delay for the design of the road”, he noted, as he lamented, “we were convinced we were going to make that schedule, and at the last minute my contract was terminated for non-performance”.
“If there is rain delay it’s fair to give me a delay, if there are changes in design then it’s fair to give me a design delay …if there is changes in design that requires more cost then it’s different”, Motilall explained adding that there was a 63% increase in the requirement for laterite.
He said that his company has not been paid for work completed, noting that the works included clearing the forested area and “working in very hostile territory”. He said that the government owes his company more than US$1M for works undertaken in the area adding that some US$5.8M was the total sum paid to him thus far for the project. He said under the agreement, some US$1.5M was utilized for mobilization.
When questioned about his company’s ability to complete projects, the size of the Amaila Falls road project, he restated his earlier claim that his company has built thoroughfares in the United States, some of which he said passed through forested territory in Georgia and Florida.
He said that he is “very familiar” with the territory where the project is being undertaken, noting that he has travelled into the area over the past 14 years.” You may know that I have been the original developer, I have travelled the area 14 years prior to today, I know it’s hostile”.
He said that he didn’t refuse to sub-contract the project, noting that it would have been difficult to do so for various sections of the works. He said that he had sub-contracted the project in an area but according to him, after several weeks the other company’s trucks broke down, resulting in his incurring significant expenses.
Motilall said that he is not sure what actions he will take now, noting that he preferred the situation to be defused amicably and according to him, he is at risk of losing some US$2.3M for 75 pieces of equipment, 55 of which are in the fields. This he noted was among the penalties his company faces.
Close to 80 employees will lose jobs, the contractor stated and according to him, “the sad part of it is the ultimate reason is to build a hydro, and I really want to, you know if we are going to terminate a contract maybe at least there should have been consideration for me to continue, I’m not asking but who is going to suffer on this one, it’s the hydro project”.
“I think if you look at the work that’s been done in the valley, if anything the Guyanese people owe me some money but that’s a different story”, Motilall responded when asked whether he was in the project to make a huge profit.
He added that, “I’m not claiming any more money..I feel that I have been paid 40% of 60% of the work we have done”. As regards what he has learnt from the entire scenario, he said bluntly, “the client doesn’t always do what the contracts says”.
