Kaieteur News lied about $1B Haags Bosch landfill settlement – AG

The Attorney General Chambers on Thursday denied reports that it has hammered out a billion settlement with construction conglomerate BK International and the Guyana Government after the Chief Justice (ag) Ian Chang reversed a decision to terminate his contract to manage the Haag Bosch Landfill Site, at Eccles, East Bank Demerara.

Local tabloid Kaieteur News in its Thursday, April 8, 2016 edition carried an article captioned; “Haags Bosch dumpsite controversy,

BK gets $1 billion settlement with Govt

However, in a statement, the AG Cambers dismissed the report as “erroneous, malicious and vexatious” and is demanding an apology from the news outfit.
It said after then Justice Chang ruled that the February 27, 2015 termination of the contract was not correctly done, the APNU/AFC government on December 30, 2015, caused a Notice of Appeal and an Application for a Stay to be filed against the said decision.
“Talks were entered into with the Hon Minister of Communities and his team, Brian Tiwarie and his team and the Hon Attorney-General and his team, with a view to resolving this matter since the work on the Haags Bosch Dumpsite was at a standstill, and, the stench and smoke from fires on the dumpsite were affecting the surrounding communities,” the statement explained.
It added that in the course of talks permission was sought from Cabinet and granted to negotiate a settlement with a view to ending the contractual relationship with Brian Tiwarie, and having his company exit the dumpsite.
“Negotiations have commenced and are not yet complete. Moreover, any proposed settlement would have to return to Cabinet for approval,” it stated.
The AG Chambers said based on these facts, it is evident the said articles are “erroneous, malicious and vexatious and designed to sully the good name of the Attorney-General, his officers, the Ministry of Legal Affairs and the Government of Guyana.
The AG Chambers wants the tabloid to apologise.
Meanwhile, when contacted by Guyana Times on Friday, Tiwarie confirmed the negotiations, but said he has not received any documentations regarding a settlement thus far.
Back in 2009 the Government of Guyana entered a contractual agreement to design, execute, complete, operate and maintain the Haags Bosch Landfill at a cost of some US$7,729,822.50.
However, because the project was being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the international funding Agency had some requirements that needed to be filled, but was not seeing this in the work executed by the company.
It is reported that the sanitary landfill which was initially designed to facilitate 6000 tonnes of solid waste per month was processing in excess of 10,000 tonnes per month, while its construction was still a work in progress.
Intended to last for 26 years, the rate of usage at the facility had projected a significantly reduced lifespan.
The landfill is expected to facilitate garbage disposal from Georgetown and some 15 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs).