Citing unfulfilled contractual agreements, government yesterday terminated with immediate effect the contract with BK International for the construction of the US$4 million Good Hope Secondary School and also notified that it would be taking court action.
“You are hereby notified that the Government of Guyana/ Ministry of Education, by this letter, terminates with immediate effect the contract executed on 1st October, 2018 for the construction of a General Secondary School, Lot 2 Good Hope, East Coast Demerara in accordance with the General Conditions of the contract, on the grounds of fundamental breach of the conditions stipulated in the Contract, which includes but are not limited to failing to maintain a security, as required and inordinate delay,” the letter signed by Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC states.
“The Government of Guyana intends to institute legal proceedings against BK International Inc. to enforce all the provisions of the said contract and shall claim compensation and liquidated damages for the breaches thereof occasioned,” it added.
The contract for the project was signed in October of 2018 with the project estimated to cost US$4,082,506.80. The Perma-nent Secretary of the Ministry of Education has been instructed to take possession of the site immediately, according to the letter.
According to the Ministry of Education, the school which is currently under construction, should have been completed since January 2020 following the contract award in 2018. The Ministry wants to have the school ready for the new school year which begins in September 2021.
While government last week notified that it had settled with Courtney Benn Contracting for similar infractions, Nandlall defended the decision saying that BK’s termination and pending litigation could not be compared to the settlement government has with Courtney Benn, as that company’s principal requested a settlement and showed just cause why he should be granted it, unlike BK’s Brian Tiwarie.
“Firstly, Mr. Courtney Benn approached the government and requested a settlement of his matter. He conceded that he cannot complete, he has financial problems and he will not be able to complete most of the projects (and) having regard to his obligations to creditors and in the circumstances, requested that the government iron out these settlements with him which we did. BK had this school since 2018 on an 18 months contract. Over there, years after without any interventions of the government he has abysmally failed to complete the work,” Nandlall told the Stabroek News when asked about the seeming disparity in treatment of the two contractors.
“Students are scheduled to attend this school in the next school year, which is in another three months. The government isn’t pressuring him at all. He got all the time he needed to complete the contract. It is a matter of public record that the minister visited that school twice, to implore upon the contractor that time is of the essence and that the contract ought to be completed. Those pleas fell on deaf ears, hence the drastic step of termination,” he added.
He also pointed out that it was not the first time that BK was warned as six months ago he was given notice to complete the project. “When the first set of contracts were terminated over six months ago, this contract was among them because since then the contractor was in breach. But the government decided that as the contract was substantially performed the contractor should be allowed an opportunity to complete it, which the contractor in fact promised to do but breached that promise as well,” he said.
BK Inc, according to Nandlall, had applied for an extension in January of this year but said that “he never got it”…But all the time he had possession of the school and never completed it, even after Minister of Education Priya Manickchand visited and warned him.”
Manickchand had emphasised the importance of the school to Region Four, particularly to students living in communities along the East Coast of Demerara. The school which will accommodate 1,000 students, will allow the Ministry of Education to eliminate all Primary Tops within the region.
A Primary Top is a department within a primary school that delivers secondary education to students who do not have access to a secondary school.
According to the Education Minister, children from villages such as Paradise, Plaisance, Enmore, Good Hope and other communities along the coast will benefit from the school.
During that visit, Managing Director of the company, Tiwarie and his company’s Chief Engineer Ganesh Sawh, had given the commitment that the school would have been completed by May 22. Sawh pointed out that the major aspect of the project left to be completed related to the electrical work.
