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Failing to levy penalties on defaulting contractors ‘outrageous’
…Parliamentary Oversight to rectify practice-Dr Roopnaraine
A Partnership for National Unity’s Prime Ministerial Candidate, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine has taken another swipe at the ruling administration for their failure to levy penalties in the form of liquidated damages on defaulting contractors.
Dr Roopnaraine says that this practice by the administration is downright outrageous and what makes it even worse is that the same contractors in default and sometimes even providing shoddy works are rewarded with more contracts, in some cases even more lucrative.
Over the years the Auditor General’s Office in its Annual Reports have pointed out instances where contractors have even been overpaid for providing shoddy works but the safeguard provision of levying liquidated damages is non-existent.
Dr. Rupert Roopnarine
Dr Roopnaraine is optimistic this is one of the matters that will be addressed by the requisite Parliamentary bodies with responsibility for activities such as the audits.
“Parliament is going to take its audit functions very seriously,” stated Dr. Roopnaraine.
One of the prime examples of the administration failing to levy penalty in the form of liquidated damages, involves Synergy Holdings and Makeshwar ‘Fip’ Motilall who are currently behind schedule with a US$15.4M road contract.
Motilall was deemed hopelessly behind schedule ever since April 2011 with the administration threatening to apply liquidated damages, but to date this is yet to be applied.
Motilall has missed three subsequent deadlines.
The road is to pave the way for the construction of the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project which has seen estimates increase from US$450M to a staggering US$835M.
Dr Luncheon, during a recent post Cabinet press briefing disclosed that the new completion date for the road project is now March or April this year.
It has now been agreed by Motilall, the consultants and the Government of Guyana that sections of the road will have to be sub-contracted out to other companies to speed up the works.
As it relates to the percentage of the US$15.4M paid over to Synergy Holdings Inc. for works already completed, the official was unable to pronounce but promised to make that information available.
Dr. Luncheon was also unable at the time to say how much of the road has been completed.
Motilall had earlier this year promised to take media operatives to the interior to view the progress of the road but that too never materialized.
Dr Luncheon had even suggested that Motilall should be very worried because the design of the contract stipulates stringent penalties.
“The penalties are quite significant and will be enforced for not meeting the drop dead date.”
The breakdown of the project awarded to Synergy Holdings Inc states that the upgrade of 89km of road will cost US$3.9M; the 110km of virgin roadway, US$7M, the two pontoon crossings or a bridge will be US$1.5M and ‘T’ line clearing is said to be US$3M.
Hand-in-Hand Group of Companies is the company that has backed Synergy Holdings Inc. with the US$3M mobilization and security bonds, which were a prerequisite to securing the recently awarded Amaila Falls Road contract.
The Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project is described as just part of a larger effort to revolutionise Guyana’s power generation infrastructure.
The storage dam site would be located near the top of Amaila Falls and would impound the waters of both the Kuribrong and Amaila Rivers.
The Amaila site is located on the Kuribrong River, a tributary of the Potaro River in West Central Guyana. The nearest point of access is the airstrip at Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro River, approximately 15 miles to the south.
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