The court has been unable to serve a Writ of Summons to Surendra Engineering as there is no one in the country to receive it and government is exploring its options in getting the India-based company to attend court to answer to a lawsuit.
“We have filed the Writ of Summons along with statement of claim (but) we encountered difficulties in serving it as there seemed to be no one at the registered office here to accept service of the documents…we are now seeking other methods of service as prescribed by the rules of court,” Attorney General Anil Nandlall said recently.
Last month, after terminating the contract, government filed a lawsuit against the specialty hospital contractor for breach of contract and fraud and is seeking damages to the tune of $100M and the recovery of US$4.2M ($865M) in advance payments for the project.
“The defendant failed to perform their obligations under the terms of the contract and to account for the advance payment of US$4,285,440.00…. Instead, the defendant submitted fabricated, unsigned and sometimes inflated invoices with no evidence of actual payments made or to support the expenditure claimed,” the Attorney-General charged in the statement of claim for the action, which was filed in the High Court on October 16th.
The matter is scheduled to be heard on December 3rd of this year in the Commercial Court.
Nandall disclosed that alternative legal mechanisms are being worked out so that the summons could be served and court litigation commence. While not going into detail, the AG pointed out that there were other legal avenues that government can take in getting the document served on Surendra. “Not because a person is avoiding service or cannot be found means that a plaintiff can be frustrated in effecting service,” he said.
The specific strategy which government will use to see the litigation through was not disclosed but Stabroek News understands that the government of India could be asked to assist in getting the summons served through that country’s court system.
Meanwhile Stabroek News understand that officials from the Office of the President along with the Ministries of Health and Finance have been engaging with officials from the Indian Exim Bank to plan a way forward for the project.
Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon had informed that government was seeking to have Indian Exim Bank officials travel to Guyana to have the discussions. “The recovery of public funds that is tied with the prosecution and it is related to an intended engagement with officials from Exim Bank,” he had stated last month.
“We have sought with the assistance of the Indian government to have the Exim Bank officials visit and to engage us bilaterally on that and matters related to the construction to which government maintains its outmost commitment,” he had said.
Luncheon had noted too, that court litigation was one part of a three-pronged intervention Cabinet had agreed to. The other two are terminating the contract, which has already been done, and pursuing criminal charges for fraud, which the police is currently working on.
The Cabinet Secretary said that all stakeholders have been informed of the termination of the contract. Nonetheless, he added, government remains steadfast in ensuring that the hospital is built.
