New Guyana Embassy in Brazil completed – Foreign Minister

Marred by massive delays and a flawed contract that had to be terminated and retendered, the new Guyana Embassy in neighbouring Brazil has been completed.
This was revealed by Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd during the consideration of Financial Paper Number Two of 2025, totalling $18.8 billion for advances made from the Contingencies Fund that catered for developmental works countrywide and other initiatives for the period November 18 to December 16, 2025. Included in that $18.8 billion is a sum of some $237.6 million for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, which came under scrutiny from Opposition Member Ganesh Mahipaul of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) in the Committee of Supply.

Defending the allocation, Todd told the House late Friday evening that the money went towards completing the construction of the Embassy in Brasilia. The Foreign Minister said the project had been initiated under the previous APNU–Alliance For Change (AFC) Coalition Administration and was “fundamentally flawed”. He added that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government had taken over and completed the project.
“We inherited a very terrible project, and we went about righting that wrong,” Todd declared. “What we intended to do, Mr Speaker, was to ensure we complete the project so that we can deliver to the people of Guyana a project that in essence is complete. So, what we did was to appropriate these funds to complete the offices – the offices of the staff, the Ambassador and the residence of the Ambassador and staff. So, we were able to complete them.” According to Todd, they are currently in the process of furnishing the building, and the full opening of the embassy is likely to be in April. Back in November 2019, a contract to the tune of US$4.499 million, equivalent to G$937.9 million, was awarded for the construction of the New Guyana Embassy, Ambassador’s Residence, and Diplomatic Staff Quarters in Brazil’s capital. This was way below the US$7.370 million engineer’s estimate for the project.

The scope of works comprised the construction of a continuous reinforced concrete and structural steel complex to house a Chancery, Ambassador’s Official Residence, and Diplomats Residence, along with a swimming pool, recreational areas, a tennis court, a grass field, and other site development works, including a car park, ramps, security guard huts, a technical/utility building, and landscaping.

Agreement terminated
The contract was signed on October 14, 2019, and works had commenced two days later with a duration of 18 months. The planned completion date was April 16, 2021, with a defects liability period of six months. But according to the 2023 Auditor General’s (AG) Report, there was no documentation to show any approved extension of time issued to the contractor or a revised completion date for the works. And by the end of 2022, the contractor had received some G$890.036 million, and the agreement was subsequently terminated. “According to documentation presented, the contract was terminated on 23 January 2023. The termination agreement, which had a list of materials on site attached, stated that the “owner” will pay the “contractor” the remaining balance of US$177,998.22 within seven days from the present termination agreement,” the AG’s report stated.

Consequently, the amount of US$178,283.02 (G$37.172 million) was paid to the contractor on February 1, 2023, thus revising the total payments to US$4.458 million (G$927.208 million). “However, we could not ascertain the quantities of works paid for at the time of termination, whether the advance payment was fully recovered or if liquidated damages and the provision of a performance bond were applicable under the contract, while the physical verification on 19 July 2024 revealed that approximately 65 per cent of the permanent works on the main buildings were completed,” the AG Office indicated in the report.
Moreover, it was noted that at the time of reporting in September 2024, the Foreign Ministry had engaged an engineering consultancy firm to prepare bid documents for completion of the Chancery section of the complex, and bids were solicited and received from qualified contractors. An evaluation report was subsequently prepared and submitted to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), and an award was granted. To this end, a further sum of $525 million was allotted in 2023 for the provision of buildings – the Guyana Embassy in Brazil. According to the Appropriation Account, the full sum was expended. The report went on to detail that audit checks revealed that on December 18, 2023, four payments totalling $525 million were processed through the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), and that the full sum of $525 million was wire transferred to the Guyana Embassy in Washington Bank Account № 15247597 on January 15, 2024.
According to the 2023 AG Report, “The Head of the Budget Agency indicated that Cabinet has since agreed that the Chancery would be completed. In this regard, contractors in Brasilia, Brazil, were invited to submit bids for the construction of this phase of the project. At the time of the report, the Cabinet, following a submission and recommendation from the NPTAB, had granted it no objection to facilitate the award of a contract.”