Govt to sue delinquent contractors over delayed works – AG

Contractors executing public projects could find themselves in hot water if there are lengthy delays in the completion of the works with the Guyana Government now moving to take legal actions against them.
This was revealed by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, SC., during his weekly programme – Issues in the News.
He noted that as the last Cabinet meeting, there was a resolve to take “strong actions” against all those contractors who are failing to perform their contractual duties. These, he noted, are contractors who are issued with contracts from the government and for whatever reason, have been in breach not only causing tremendous delay in the execution and completion of public works across the country but also stalling the Government’s infrastructural development drive.
To this end, the Finance Ministry has been directed to conduct a swift audit to determine who delinquent contractors are.
“Once that is determined, that information would be passed to the Attorney General and the Attorney General has received firm instructions to first notify the delinquent contractors and demand from them liquidated damages where the contract so permit, and to sue for breach of contract.”
“We cannot continue to have contractors not discharging their contractual obligations in accordance with the contractual specifications. Government will not tolerate substandard work and breach of contracts from contractors who are paid billions of dollars to discharge their contractual obligations,” Nandlall stated.
According to the Legal Affairs Minister, those contractors performing well will have no reason to worry with this new move being taken by government.
Strongly and swiftly
“The delinquent ones, however, will attract certain legal consequences and the govt intends to move strongly and swiftly in that direction,” the Attorney General posited.
Only last week, the Public Works Ministry was forced to read the riot act to the contractor conducting works on the Leguan Stelling, saying that it will institute penalties against them for not fulfilling their contractual obligations despite efforts to meet their demands.
Upgrades to the Leguan Stelling should have been completed since 2019, under the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC). Instead, however, the project was inherited by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government.
Troubles continue to plague the project and the contract is currently behind schedule.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of Public Works revealed that they are currently in a standoff with the contractor, S Maraj Contracting Services. The Ministry contended that it will not be bullied, refuting the contractor’s claim that the work is stalled because the Government owes them money.
“Government will not be bullied into paying for unfinished projects. Contractors and vendors providing service to the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Public Works, are hereby warned against any attempt to bully, and or manipulate the Government into paying for incomplete projects,” the Ministry said.
Meanwhile, only last weekend, President Dr Irfaan Ali, who has been visiting the sites of major infrastructure projects across the country to ensure they are on schedule, lashed out regional officials for not effectively carrying out their duties.
During a Cabinet outreach in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) on Saturday, residents of Mara on the East Bank of Berbice complained about a number of issues including the pace of construction of the community’s main access road.
“I am disappointed with the engineer coming to communities, not preparing any report, not following up on anything. The areas with gaps, we have to fill. We are paying people and we’re not going to tolerate the lack of care and concern for the community.”
Going forward, the Head of State said a new approach would be taken with the direct involvement of residents, especially with regard to road construction projects.
“I’m disappointed with the performance of the regional engineers and the REO (Regional Executive Officer) in addressing some of these issues… We’re very disappointed, like the residents, with the pace at which the [road] work is being done. We’ve made the resources available and it’s totally outrageous the pace at which the work is being done,” the President stated. (G8)