The Government of Guyana has sued Courtney Benn Contracting Services Ltd and CARICOM General Insurance Company Inc for a total of just over $359m pertaining to the incomplete Linden Technical Institute (LTI) dormitories.
The action lodged last week comes just a month after the same two parties were sued in relation to the St Rose’s High School project.
In the statement of claim filed by Attorney General Anil Nandlall, the state is seeking general damages in excess of $100m against Courtney Benn for alleged breach of contract executed on July 3rd, 2017 for the construction of the LTI dormitories.
The state is also seeking $39.8m as liquidated damages from Courtney Benn pursuant to the said contract. Also being claimed by the state is $119.4m from Courtney Benn under the Performance Bond issued by CARICOM General Insurance in relation the said agreement. Further, the state is seeking aggravated damages of $100m from Courtney Benn for alleged breach of the same contract.
Alternatively, the state is seeking an Order of Restitution against CARICOM General Insurance for all monies owing on the Performance Bond to the government. Interest is also being sought in accordance with Section 12 of the law Reform Miscellaneous Act.
In the statement of claim, Nandlall averred that on July 3rd of 2017, the government entered into an agreement through the Ministry of Education with Courtney Benn for the construction of the dormitories at a contract price of $398.2m. He said that Courtney Benn was paid an advance of $59.7m and that to date the company had received a total of $117.8m.
Nandlall deposed that Courtney Benn submitted a work programme but failed to comply with it and as a consequence breached its obligations under the contract.
As a consequence, the Ministry of Education terminated the contract on February 12th, 2021 on the grounds of failure to comply with the schedule of works and the inordinate delay in the project which Nandlall said constituted fundamental breaches of the agreement.
In the particulars of the damage, Nandlall said that the actions of the defendant has impacted the interest of the public in the non-completion of the construction of the dormitories.
“The exigencies of the common good should prevent the First and Second Named Defendants from being unjustly enriched based on the advances received under the Contract and the terms of the Performance Bond”, Nandlall asserted.
