Negotiations with BK International for a settlement on government’s termination of its management contract for the Haags Bosch landfill are ongoing and Cabinet will have to approve any settlement, the Ministry of Legal Affairs has said.
In a statement, the Ministry rejected a Kaieteur News article which reported that BK had gotten $1 billion as a settlement. The statement recounted that myriad problems developed with the Haags Bosch contract over the years and the PPP/C government terminated the contract on February 27, 2015.
As a result, BK owner Brian Tiwari filed an action in the High Court challenging the termination. The Attorney-General’s Chambers represented the Ministry of Communities in this action. The statement recounted that on November 26 last year, the then Chief Justice (ag) Ian Chang ruled that the termination of the contract by the former government was not correctly done.
“The effect of this decision was that the contract continued and Mr Tiwari could remain on site. On December 30, 2015 the Attorney-General caused a Notice of Appeal and an Application for a Stay to be filed against the said decision,” the statement said.
It recounted that talks were entered into with Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan and his team, Tiwari and his team and Attorney-General Basil Williams and his team, with a view to resolving the matter since the work on the Haags Bosch landfill was at a standstill, and, the stench and smoke from fires on the dumpsite were affecting the surrounding communities.
“In the course of talks, permission was sought from Cabinet and granted to negotiate a settlement with a view to ending the contractual relationship with Brian Tiwari, and having his company exit the dumpsite.
Negotiations have commenced and are not yet complete. Moreover, any proposed settlement would have to return to Cabinet for approval,” the statement asserted.
The Ministry said that the Kaieteur News articles are “erroneous, malicious and vexatious and designed to sully the good name” of the Attorney-General, his officers, the Ministry of Legal Affairs and the Government of Guyana. It demanded an apology from the publishers of Kaieteur News.
