Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC has warned that contractors who breach their obligations on state projects are liable to face legal action as government will not stand idly by and allow delinquent practices.
The Legal Affairs Minister made this announcement on Tuesday during his programme, “Issues in The News”, where he upbraided contractors for not meeting their contractual obligations and causing tremendous delays to projects which are currently being pursued by the government.
Against this background, Cabinet recently approved a measure whereby delinquent contractors are to be penalised for malpractices, Nandlall informed.
He added, “The People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government has taken this drastic position to penalise these contractors. They need to get it right and I will make it clear, this government will not tolerate substandard work, since billions of dollars have already been expended and timelines were given to complete these projects.”
According to Nandlall this trend of defaulting contractors must come to an end as the government cannot allow its infrastructural development to face any derailments.
He related that the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has been tasked with categorising companies that have failed to perform their duties, after which, their names will be forwarded to the Attorney General’s Chambers for further action.
“The Attorney General’s Chambers has received firm instructions, to first notify the delinquent contractors and demand from them, liquidated damages where the contract so permits and to sue for breach of contract. We cannot continue to have contractors not discharging their contractual obligations in accordance with the contractual specifications,” the minister asserted.
He said that delinquency will attract certain legal consequences and the government intends to move strongly and swiftly in that direction,” he further stated.
In response to questions raised by APNU+AFC Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul, the National Drainage & Irrigation Authority (NDIA) on October 9 disclosed that a $978 million contract for a pump station at Black Bush Polder (BBP), Corentyne, was terminated in September for poor work and several others had been granted extensions for a variety of reasons.
In its statement disclosing the termination of the BBP pump station contract, NDIA did not identify the contractor but Mahipaul, in a letter to the October 8 edition of Stabroek News, had identified the company as Yunas Civil and Building Construction.
“With regards to the construction of the drainage pump station to irrigate Black Bush Polder Farmlands, Region Six, this project was terminated on September 25, 2023 by the NDIA for poor quality and performance of works being executed”, the drainage and irrigation authority said.
According to the NDIA “This project will soon be retendered”.
Mahipaul had said that the BPP project had an expected completion date of April 23, 2023 and only 14% of the work had been done but 20% of the contract sum had already been disbursed. Mahipaul has expressed concern about the extra cost to the country of the retendering and he also queried how the consultant was paid the full sum prior to the termination even though there were clear problems with the project.
