The fate of the planned US$18M Specialty Hospital at Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara, is still in limbo as the Exim Bank of India has halted funding amid claims of corruption by one Indian parliamentarian and a company, AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan says.
“The Exim Bank of India has not released any funds. Government was lying to us when they said that the money had come… the monies from that end has been halted and from this end will continue to be blocked,” Ramjattan told Stabroek News last week.
Ramjattan informed that he sought an audience with former cricketer turned anti-corruption crusader and parliamentarian, Kirti Azad, who has taken the case of the controversial hospital contract award to his country’s Parliament.
During last year’s consideration of the budget estimates, a proposed $1.25B allocation for the controversial hospital was cut by the opposition. Main opposition APNU had pointed to the government’s lack of dialogue on the opposition’s concern that the formulation of the deal was not transparent, while the AFC had raised objections and pointed out that Surendra Engineering, the company awarded the contract for the hospital’s construction, already had problems with the Enmore Sugar Packaging Plant and had never before built a hospital.
At one point, another Indian firm, Fedders Lloyd, had complained about the tendering process, saying that Surendra was awarded because of favouritism and its links to the current ruling administration. It had written to the Ministry of Health outlining its concerns.
However, at the December 12th, 2013 sitting of the National Assembly, government managed to secure approval of $34.4M for the project owing to the absence of APNU member Volda Lawrence during the vote. This paved the way for foundation works for the hospital to commence in January this year, for which BK International was hired by Surendra Engineering.
When Stabroek News visited the hospital site last week, a BK International employee referred all questions to Surendra Engineering. However, calls to Surendra’s representative in Guyana yielded no answers. He promised that he would have his company’s public relations department get back to Stabroek News. He would not say where his company’s office was located. No correspondence was received from either the Surendra representative or his public relations department.
Stabroek News has been trying for over a year to obtain an audience with a representative of the company. Numerous calls to the company’s contact numbers in India were never answered and repeated emails remain unanswered.
Meanwhile, Fedders Lloyd announced this week that it had lodged reports with India’s Exim Bank and the country’s Foreign Ministry on the contentious award and would be pursuing the matter until the contract is retendered.
Stabroek News understands that the release of the monies for the hospital is riding on the outcome of India’s general elections, which is slated for April to May this year as the country’s current opposition has questioned the award of contracts in various countries, citing corruption. The specialty hospital contract has been one of the projects that have come up for scrutiny in the Indian Parliament. It remains unclear what will happen after the approved $34.4M is exhausted but the opposition has said that the project will continue to be rejected.
