Indian company Fedders Lloyd will commence infrastructural works on the Specialty Hospital at Liliendaal on the East Coast of Demerara by June this year as it is currently tweaking its design specifications to cater for construction done by the previous contractor.
“We are targeting by the half year for everything to be in place…I think by the end of June we should see some movement on the site,” Minister of Finance Winston Jordan told members of the media yesterday.
Government’s announcement last November of a Memorandum of Under-standing with Fedders Lloyd to take over the project without public tendering sparked controversy and numerous calls for the arrangement to be terminated.
The Finance Minister yesterday restated that the project will not cost more than the remaining US$13M from EXIM Bank of India financing. Previous contractors Surendra Engineering was fired, citing fraud, by the previous People’s Progres-sive Party/Civic administration but had claimed that it had spent US$4M from the US$18M before that contract was terminated. He said that only 20% of the work at the site was completed. The financing had been arranged through the Indian Government.
Surendra was taken to court and the Government of Guyana won judgment but the company is no longer here.
Jordan said that June will give both parties, the Ministry of Finance and Fedders Lloyd, enough time to complete contractual paperwork and mobilization so that works can begin.
“The design that is being done had to be done to take account of the work that was done by Surendra, under B.K. (International). The two designs were different Surendra, quote, unquote, won the bid (and they proceeded) to do their design. So the piles that were driven were for their design.
“So as not to lose the piles that they have driven, Fedders Lloyd had to go there, look at the configuration, bring their two engineers from India and so forth and go back to India and try to put a design that will use, if not all, almost all of the piles. I think they have done a pretty good job in looking at the thing. So I think now they are looking at classifications and so on and once that is finished we will have a design, that is comfortable and they will bring and will build with what is left, whatever monies are left,” he added.
Although the Finance Ministry said Fedders Lloyd’s selection without public tendering was in keeping with the Procurement Act, because the firm was one of the two bidders that were in contention for the original project under the former PPP/C government, the evaluation report showed that the company had been disqualified from the process.
President David Granger has since said that he sees no “justification or need” to rescind the MoU.
While in opposition, APNU+AFC had objected to the construction of the Specialty Hospital on several grounds, among them was Surendra Engineering’s lack of experience in the construction of hospitals of this type.
In addition to the absence of public tendering, the deal has come in for scrutiny due to Fedders Lloyd having engaged now Vice-President and Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan.
President of Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. Calvin Bernard had posited that the circumstances warranted retendering of the project and Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo also said it should have been retendered after an independent evaluation of the work done.
However, Ramjattan defended government’s selection saying that a provision in the contract for the specialty hospital allows for government to employ a third party to complete the project in the event of fraudulent practices by the original contractor and it was under this clause that Fedders Lloyd was chosen to finish the project.
Jordan yesterday stressed that government got a deal with Fedders Lloyd being able to complete the project with only the remaining monies as the country did not have money for such a project.
A representative of the company told Stabroek News that the company has submitted a “fantastic design and will incorporate all the suggestions and guidelines given by experts in Guyana”.
