REOs, engineers will be held accountable for not enforcing penalties for contract breaches – Pres Ali

– liquidated damages ordered on Kwebanna Sec. School contractor

Contractors, Regional Engineers and Regional Executive Officers (REOs) have been put on notice by President Dr. Irfaan Ali that Government has a zero-tolerance approach towards contractors who fail to execute their contracts and regional officials who let them do so.
During a meeting held at the Arthur Chung Conference Center (ACCC) with scores of contractors, consultants, and Ministry officials, President Ali, with Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh and Education Minister Priya Manickchand beside him, received project updates on the various schools that are currently under construction.
For instance, contractors had given project completion dates of November 15 for Christ Church Secondary School (CCCS) and August 25 for St. George’s High. The St. Mary’s High School has had to have a design change, and as such, an extension was granted.
Nevertheless, the contractor for Lots 1 and 2 assured that work would be done during the day and night in order to have the school completed by November.
The contractor working on the $1.7 billion Karasabai Secondary School in Region Nine informed the President that the school would be completed on July 18, 2025, ahead of the October 2025 project deadline.
When it comes to the $2 billion Kwebanna Secondary, however, project consultant CB & Associates reported that despite the project being originally slated to have been completed by August 31, 2024, most of the contractors working on the foundation for the school are significantly behind schedule.
According to the consulting engineer, only a 15-day extension had been granted for lot 2, while no extension had been given for any of the other lots. This prompted President Ali to direct the Finance Minister to engage the Attorney General’s Chambers with a view to enforcing contract penalties once no justification could be given for the delays.
The Kwebanna contract had been divided into six lots among three companies in order to allow for simultaneous work, and as such, is expected to be completed within seven to eight months.
Supreme Contracting & Supplies was awarded both the $187,735,280 contract to complete site development works as well as the $205,242,780 contract for substructure works of the school building.
Bree’s Enterprise received the $189,413,616 contract to complete the substructure works of the dormitory, while AS Construction was given the $157,196,650 contract to complete the substructure works of the teachers’ quarters.
Meanwhile, Singh & Son Construction was awarded both the $1,08,915,650 contract for external works as well as the $196,916,430 contract for finishing works. CB & Associates was also earlier selected as a consultant on the project.
At the meeting, President Ali ordered the contractors responsible for the delays to stand and identify themselves. Once they had done so, they blamed logistical challenges and delays at the ports for the delay in completing the foundation. At this point, however, the President interrupted them and instructed the Finance Minister to begin applying liquidated damages.

Penalties
At the meeting, President Ali also made it clear that action would be taken not just against contractors, but against regional officials who do not enforce contract penalties for unjustified delays.
“The REOs are here and the Regional Engineers are here, I want to make it very clear, (since) we have the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Education: These projects must be managed independently of the project file, and we’re going to hold the REOs and Engineers accountable for all of these projects. And I want the contractors to understand,” he said.
“From day one, once there are breaches and the contractors are not fulfilling their responsibilities, I need letters to be written and placed in the file. At the end of the contractual period, or before, if there is cause for termination, a copy of the file must be sent to NPTAB so that they will know that these contractors are not performing,” the President has said.
President Ali noted that, in many cases, contractors bid in regions in which they do not even maintain a presence in order to be able to consistently check on the progress of their work sites. However, since the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) evaluated them based on whether they were the lowest responsive bid, this is not factored in.

“We’re not going to take those excuses. We’re not going to tolerate those excuses. Most of these projects are slated to be completed within 15 and 18 months. Most of them. So, I wanted to address today the Ministry staff, the Engineering section from the Ministry, because the Ministry also has a responsibility to ensure the work is completed within time, within budget, and also to the quality we expect.
“Most of these facilities are very modern facilities, built to give the education sector all the infrastructure required to disseminate education to the population. Those of you working in hinterland regions, for example, you have to make use of the weather conditions,” the Head of State said.
President Ali also warned the contractors that if they won multiple lots, the Government expects that they would work on those lots simultaneously in order to ensure the timely completion of projects within deadlines.
“I’ve heard contractors saying to engineers that when we finish on this site, we’ll mobilize on the other site. That can’t work here! All the projects will be managed simultaneously! Are we together? The contractors understand clearly?” the President questioned, and received confirmation from the contractors.
“So there will be penalties for contractors, and it can cost you your company too. Because if you don’t perform, you can get backlisted and you will not get new projects. This sector is very important for us,” the President has said.
Following concerns raised over the award of contracts to selected contractors and the inability to meet project deadlines or build according to specifications, the Government has, in the past few months, embarked on a plan to pursue greater accountability within the procurement processes across all sectors.
Among the initiatives announced was the establishment of a Contract Compliance Unit within the Ministry of Legal Affairs, and other units within the various ministries, to assess the performance of contractors. (G-3)