The Auditor General’s report for 2023 has strongly criticized the Ministry of Public Works over its handling of a Vlissengen Road contract worth $475m where it found that the contractor was delinquent from the very start.
The Audit Office recommended that the Head of the Budget Agency should immediately desist from accepting poor performance from contractors without terminating the contract or applying penalties as set out in the contract
The project pertained to Vlissengen Road (between Princes Street and Mandela Avenue) – Lot 7. The Audit Office report said that an award was made by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) in the sum $475m for the Geometric Improvement to Vlissen-gen Road between Princes Street and Mandela Avenue.
The contract was awarded to Avinash Contracting Service.
The agreement was signed on 1 July 2022 and the duration of the contract was one year with a commencement date of 5 July 2022 and an intended date of completion of 6 July 2023. The defects liability period was one year.
“As at 31 December 2023 only an advance payment of $142.521m was paid to the Contractor. Examination of the Advance Payment Bond revealed that it had expired since 1 August 2023. Similarly, the Performance Bond had also expired on 1 August 2024. At the time of reporting in September 2024, the final account for the Contract was to be prepared. Physical verification on 15 August 2024 revealed that the works were substantially completed, and the roadway was in use, with the exception of the eastern drive lane of the bridge at Princes Street. However, no approved extensions of time were seen. In addition, an examination of the project files revealed that the Contractor was delinquent from the onset of the project and was flagged for poor performance throughout the entire lengthy period being taken to complete the works”, the Auditor General’s report said.
Further, it was noted from records that the Ministry supplied the contractor with seven steel beams to complete the bridge at Princes Street, and asphalt from the Demerara Harbour Bridge Asphalt Plant for roadworks, to the value of $48.8m.
At the time of its inspections, the Auditor General’s report said that it was revealed that the asphalt paving was done to the timber bridge surface close to Front Road, in the vicinity of the Police Outpost. This area on the bridge had pot holes developing on the asphalt surface and will have to be addressed to prevent further deterioration of the surface, the report added.
The ministry in it’s response said that the observations were noted.
“The Ministry will seek to implement more stringent measures to have Contractors comply with their contractual obligations. The Contractor was written to renew their bonds and given directives to finish all works by 31 January 2024. This was necessary after the Contractor was flagged for non-performance. To accelerate the project, the Ministry decided to provide the asphalt and have the Contractor provide a quotation to transport, place and compact the material. The SubContractor was directed not (to) pave the timber bridge because it was technically incorrect, however, this directive was disregarded. The coordinator was informed about the infractions and the subContractor was written asking to remove the asphalt and resurface the existing timber structure using GH timber runners to aid the transition of the resurface asphaltic concrete approaches. The corrective works was completed on 31 August 2024. The Contractor asked to relinquish the Contract due to financial constraints, the Ministry applied liquidated damages and hired SubContactors to complete the works”, the ministry said.
The Audit Office recommended that the Head of the Budget Agency should immediately desist from accepting poor performance from Contractors, without terminating the Contract or applying penalties, as set out in the Contract. Second, it must provide the breakdown of total costs and source of funds used to pay for the materials provided to the Contractor to complete the works and provide the final valuation of the permanent works completed.
