Latest update April 18th, 2025 8:12 AM
MILLIONS paid twice for same contract – source
The long-awaited Marriott Hotel continues to be elusive but the money spent by the government to prepare for the investors has raised eyebrows in that there were two payments to two separate contractors for one project.
A section of the relocated sewerage lines
Courtney Benn Construction Company Limited was initially awarded the US$700,000 contract to reroute the sewer lines in Kingston but after objections by foreign investors that the work was not being done to satisfactory standards that contract was pulled. The ‘investor(s)’ were worried about the then existing network of sewerage pipelines.
However, Benn had been paid a substantial sum to purchase the pipes and to execute the project.
The foreign investor said that the substandard work was particularly related to the calibre of pipes being used by Courtney Benn.
It was subsequently awarded to Adam Development/Urbahn Associates (ADUA).
Point to note is that Courtney Benn had to be paid for all of the work that he had done along with monies invested.
ADUA who had objected to the substandard works being done subsequently commenced to undertake the same project using the same quality of pipes that had been objected to.
When the contact was pulled from Courtney Benn, President Bharrat Jagdeo had said that Guyana had lost capacity as a country
In May 2008, ADUA brought in a team to lay new sewerage lines to allow the site to be cleared for construction. Local engineers had questioned the integrity of the work done and some of it had to be redone.
Today the Marriott has not come but the government has already spent millions of dollars.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
A Different Silence
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- Good Friday in Guyana is not what it used to be. The day has lost its hush. There was a... more
Collaborative Government–Private Sector Action Imperative for a Resilient Trade Future
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- On April 9, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day suspension of the higher... more
Weekend Cartoon
