An overseas-based Guyanese who said he paid millions of dollars to obtain a property in the Young Professional Housing Scheme at Eccles, East Bank Demerara has accused the construction company of shoddy work and breach of contract.
Wahabudeen Imran said he had been hoping to come home to his dream home, but since his arrival in Guyana there have been ongoing problems with the building.
The property is located at 1287 Eccles, in the so-called ‘Young Professional Housing Scheme’ and the land on which the structure stands was obtained at a cost of $1.8 million from the Ministry of Housing. Imran said he then entered into a contract with Windsor Tech Inc located at 16 Ketley Street, Charlestown, Georgetown to construct his home at a cost of $12.5 million.
Several attempts made by this newspaper to obtain a comment from the management of Windsor Tech Inc have proved futile.
When contact was made with the office at Ketley Street, a woman who gave her name as Nicole said that she was not authorized to offer a comment. Calls made to two of company’s management officials proved futile.
Imran said he made a first payment of $9.5 million on October 24, 2013, and in November of that same year he made an additional payment of $3 million for the completion of the structure.
The agreement has a one-year guarantee, Imran said, which would have begun from the date the key was handed over. However, he said that the construction was not completed by the specified time and he was forced to collect the key to the yet unfinished house, since he needed a place to accommodate furniture he had already purchased online.
The deadline for the one-year warranty expires on April 19 and Imran said that if the company cannot rectify the flaws he will be seeking full compensation for any expenditure incurred.
Imran said he had trusted the company to construct his home since he was introduced to it by the Ministry of Housing when he visited the place to obtain his house lot.
He said he is very troubled by the continual reminders of the defects which include cracks around his newly constructed house and stained doors among others.
“Is all meh lil savings meh tek and spend fuh mek this house,” said Imran. He explained that he was not on site to observe the work the builders were doing since he was overseas, but would visit occasionally. However, since he was paying his money to have a job done, he was expecting professional work, he stated.
The visibly upset man told Stabroek News that he is exhausted from running behind the company to correct the deficiencies in the structure as his efforts are to no avail.
The overseas-based Guyanese said he is calling on Minister of Housing, Irfaan Ali and all those in authority who are accountable to look into his dilemma and show some kind of concern.
During a visit to the Eccles home on April 11, Stabroek News observed that all of the doors in the house, although painted, had visible stains. The tiled floor is uneven and Imran said that water sometimes lodges in a corner of the house, which is slanted. Several cracks were also seen on the walls.
The man who recounted dedicating many years of his service to his homeland pointed to sloppy work done on other sections of the house, while he questioned the credibility of the professionals who were employed to carry out the work.
The zinc sheets on the roof have been painted in two different shades of red and the homeowner said he had asked the construction company to repaint the roof in one shade for uniformity, but that request was refused.
He said the $12.5 million he spent to build the house did not include the filling of his yard and constructing a fence, and he must now deal with this expense, as well as the myriad defects in the house.
