The High Court will this month begin ex parte proceedings against fired contractor on the Specialty Hospital project Surendra Engineering after the company failed to reply to several notices of summons published in India.
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 as such Justice Rishi Persaud, who is the presiding case judge, asked that it be published.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall told Stabroek News that the summons was published in Indian newspapers but as at yesterday there has still not been a response had from the company and as such the case will be heard without the defendant.
The hearing will begin in the second week of this month.
In October, 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 $100 million and the recovery of US$4.2 million ($865 million) 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 16, 2014.
Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon had informed that government was seeking to have Indian Exim Bank officials travel to Guyana to have the discussions but later informed that this was not possible as timing was a problem.
“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 utmost 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 are 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.
It was confirmed to Stabroek News by a source in India that a report was compiled on the project by that country’s Ministry of External Affairs, under the directive of current president Narendra Modi who is analyzing international controversial projects.
The source from that country said that neither will a delegation from that ministry or Exim Bank of India will be travelling to Guyana and that a way forward on the project will be determined only after Guyana submits its proposal.
Since the lawsuit, work at the site has been halted and the area is taken over by weeds. A check at the site yesterday by this newspaper showed locked gates but evidence that security personnel guard the area.
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