The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has instituted legal proceedings against LGS Barns General Building Construction and Civil Engineering for failing to fulfill a multi-million dollar contract of replacing aged transmission lines in the Bel Air Park area.
According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), Minister of Housing and Water Colin Croal announced the litigation at the commissioning of Republic Street, Bel Air on Friday. He explained that the company was contracted in November 2017 to replace 2,000 meters of GWI’s transmission lines in Bel Air Park, at a cost of $108 million. The sum of the four-month contract was subsequently revised to $123 million.
DPI reported that three years later in 2020, the company failed to complete the work but was paid handsomely in eight tranches.
Minister Croal confirmed that the contractor had received $114,128,727 – 93 per cent of the total contract sum. However, despite being paid a significant amount, the company only laid 225 meters of new transmission lines, completing a mere 11.25 per cent of the work by June 2020. It was stated that the value of 11.25 per cent of works is pegged at $39,406,000, meaning that $87,921,215 has been overpaid to the company by the GWI which is now seeking to reclaim the overpayment.
“So, GWI has therefore instituted legal proceedings to recover the overpayment of the $87 million and for the contractor to also hand over the additional materials that were procured. That is now engaging the court,” Minister Croal stated.
According to the DPI release, to begin the replacement of the transmission lines, LGS Barns had to excavate parts of Republic Street. However, after entering office, the PPP/C government opted not to wait to recover the monies from the company, as the deplorable condition of Republic Street was greatly inconveniencing its residents and road users.
In December 2020, GWI handed out a $91 million contract for the transmission lines to be replaced. The eight-month contract that ended in August, saw 710 meters of 22-inch HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) pipe being earthed.
Croal also noted that the water company also was involved in beginning the process of repairing the street. “Another contract had to be awarded and that was done to the sum of $28, 628, 000 for the road works to bring it up to a level that is called crusher run.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Works, through its Special Works Group, completed the repairing of Republic Street and several other streets in the area at a cost of $19.5 million. This was 30 per cent cheaper than the cost of hiring a private contractor.
Public Works Minister Juan Edghill noted that despite “gross mismanagement, negligence and corruption” in the initial contract to replace the GWI transmission lines, “his government must bring relief to suffering Guyanese.”
Edghill also urged businessmen with heavy-duty machinery to desist from driving on neighbourhood roads.
