The government yesterday announced it has terminated the contract with Courtney Benn Contracting Services for the re-construction of the St. Rose’s High School.
In a missive sent to the company, Attorney General Anil Nandlall, acting on behalf of the government, said the contract was terminated on the grounds that the company failed to complete the project in a timely manner and further has failed to comply with the works schedule.
The company was first awarded the contract in 2018 but it was delayed due to issues related to an advance in payment and changes in the design. As a result, the contractor was granted an extension in December 2019. The contract is due to expire in August, 2021. The only activity done so far has been the driving of piles.
It was noted that only 9% of works has been completed since the extension while the cost of the project increased from $352.7 million to $412.3 million to include pile driving.
“…Your company has committed a fundamental breach of the terms of the contract and as a result thereof, the Government of Guyana hereby exercises its right to terminate the contract with immediate effect,” Nandlall informed the company in the letter, which is similar to one sent to BK International terminating its contract for the Yarrowkabra Secondary School project. It is expected that the company will surrender its performance security and be fined 10% of the contract sum for liquidated damages.
A source explained to this newspaper that given that major changes that were made to the design and the uncertainty in the country following the passage of the no-confidence motion against the government in 2018, it was difficult for the contractor to effectively execute the task.
After the demolition of the St. Rose’s School building, engineers then recognised the need for piles to be driven for the foundation of the building. This activity carried up the cost of the project since it was not catered for in the first estimate.
In the last Auditor General’s report, Auditor General (AG) Deodat Sharma advised the Minis-try of Education to terminate the contract on the ground that the contractor failed to complete the work more than a year after the award.
The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board had awarded a contract in the sum of $352.710 million for construction of the Church Street school but though the contractor received an advance payment of $52.906 million followed by one interim payment of $5.186 million, no work was completed in 2018.
In 2018, Chairman of the school’s Board Governors Kenrick Thomas said an alteration in the design and foundation of the new building was the reason behind the delay in the start of construction.
The AG’s report highlighted that no details regarding the advertisement for the works or Evaluation Report were presented for audit examination and therefore the Audit Office was unable to determine when the works were advertised and the basis of award of the contract.
Additionally, the engineer’s estimate could not be determined from the documents submitted for audit examination and while the Notification of Award was sent to the contractor since 24 April 2018, the contract, for reasons which remain unclear, was signed four months later on 8 August 2018.
The contractor, it was discovered, had been issued with the advance payment despite a failure to provide an advance bond as required by the contract. Further, an advance guarantee from an insurance company was provided instead of the required bank guarantee.
Though the ministry’s Permanent Secretary had attempted to explain that discrepancy as due to a design review, the AG has recommended that the payment be recovered and the contract terminated.
“The initial foundation design could not sustain the applied loads for the proposed building and that process along with the ensuing process for the Tender Board award would have been responsible for this delay,” the ministry explained.
Notably, the company which designed the building was also expected to supervise its construction and has apparently failed to adequately perform either task, the report said. The AG has recommend that the Supervising Consultant, the Bynoe-Rowe Wiltshire Partnership of Trinidad, be held responsible for failing to recognise that the advance payment bond was not in accordance with the contract.
Thomas back in 2018 had said modifications were done to the proposed design of the building and as a result the project engineers had recommended a change in the foundation to support the building. “The result has been that this newly designed structure can no longer use the originally designed foundation to support this newly enhanced building, which now meets our school’s needs adequately. It is proposed that the new structure be supported by a pile foundation, which will prevent any movement such as sinking or subsiding of the new structure,” he explained.
Thomas related that the replacement structure was redesigned to accommodate aspects of the original facilities, auditorium, departments, rooms and office needs and the retention of the green space courtyard area, which is a unique feature of the school.
He noted that the changes in the foundation come at a higher cost and a request had to be made for additional funding from the Ministry of Education as a variation sum. He explained that “due to the tender board requirements, this new variation cost must first go through an independent process, verification and approval before it can be accepted as such.”
