(Trinidad Guardian) Construction company China Jiangsu International Corporation Trinidad and Tobago Limited has been ordered by the High Court to pay the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) more than TT$30 million in damages related to the controversial HDC Las Alturas Project.
China Jiangsu was awarded a contract of TT$67.62 million by UDECOTT in 2003 to construct 297 apartments which started in 2004 along Lady Young Road. When UDECOTT refocused on non-residential development, that contract was transferred to the HDC in 2006.
The case dealt specifically with the structural damage to building blocks ‘H’ and ‘I’ of the project. That phase of the project started in 2008 and ended in 2010. As a result of land slippage that damaged the structure of the blocks, the buildings that cost around $26 million to construct were eventually demolished in 2012 at a further cost of $3.3 million.
The judgment comes more than seven years after the HDC filed a claim for damages for breach of contract and negligence concerning the construction of apartment and townhouse units located at Stephenville Road, Morvant.
On April 19, High Court Judge David Harris ruled that China Jiangsu International T&T must pay HDC TT$26 million, representing wasted expenditure on blocks ‘H’ and ‘I’—specifically, payments made to China Jiangsu; TT$3 million for the cost of carrying out site instruction 73 to demolish and make good blocks ‘H’ and ‘I’ of the project; TT$500,000 representing the installation by Trintoplan of three piezometers and six inclinometers; TT$110,000 representing hoarding off-site; US$55,000 representing consultancy fee paid to Mueser Rutledge; $36,041 representing the assessment of blocks ‘H’ and ‘I’ by Trintoplan; and another TT$22,943 for other services.
The agreement between the parties to construct 90 apartment units and 44 townhouse units was signed in January 2008.
Before the Las Alturas deal, China Jiangsu had constructed another five housing projects for the HDC.
China Jiangsu International was also the contractor for the Tamana InTech Park project. The project, initially estimated to cost TT$1.1 billion, skyrocketed to $1.8 billion due to cost overruns and variations from the blueprint. The project was scheduled to be completed in 2010 but did not finish until 2014.
At a point in time, however, China Jiangsu was owed TT$35 million for project variations.
“What really stalled the project was the fact that the previous administration had variations with the scope of work, which was not properly documented. They deviated from the blueprint, which led to cost overruns. Another setback was a result of litigation from engineering consultants and architects. We’ve had a situation where some of them have sued because of the delays in the project,” former UTT chairman Curtis Manchoon said about the project while construction was ongoing.
China Jiangsu International also later received a $0.5 billion contract to construct the University of the West Indies South Campus in Debe/Penal in 2012, despite the fact that HDC was aware since 2011 that these two brand-new apartment buildings had to be demolished.
“This speaks to the danger of a siloed approach to national development, which the new Public Procurement law will rectify,” said chartered surveyor and former president of the Joint Consultative Council (JCC) for the Construction Industry Afra Raymond.
Former president of the Trinidad and Tobago Contractors Association (TTCA) Mikey Joseph had said it was “surprising” and “appalling” that the University of the West Indies (UWI) later approved a $509.4 million contract to build the South campus to a Chinese company with a poor track record.
Timeline of the project
• In December 2002, UDECOTT acquired the Las Alturas site.
• ↓In 2003, UDECOTT, then led by Calder Hart, awarded a $67.62 million contract to China Jiangsu International Corporation for the construction of 297 apartments in Morvant–the Las Alturas Project.
• ↓In March 2005, a letter was allegedly sent from UDECOTT’s chief construction engineer indicating that there was significant movement of the lower slope of the site where blocks F, G, H and J were located. Geo Tech Associates, which was a former party in HDC’s civil case, was hired by HDC to provide geotechnical information on the site chosen. In 2007, China Jiangsu was awarded a two-year contract of $74.87 million for 134 units in 20 buildings. In January 2008, the second phase of the project was signed between HDC and China Jiangsu. Later that year, Geotech Associates prepared a subsoil investigation report for Buildings H, I and J.
• ↓Construction work on Buildings H and I began in December 2008, but less than a year later, damage on the ground floor of Building H was observed. In January 2010, buildings H and I were completed.
• ↓However, a subsequent report by Geotech determined that there was land slippage. Civil Engineering Management and Services then recommended that buildings H and I be demolished to relieve stress on the structure. Engineering consultants Trintoplan Consults Ltd also found that buildings H had to be demolished while building I would also likely have to be demolished. In the end, there were more than 100 apartment units that were paid for but never completed.