Latest update January 20th, 2025 4:00 AM
Police block ‘Fip’ Motilall from removing equipment
…ignore High Court order
Lawyers for Makeshwar ‘Fip’ Motilall, the contractor at the centre of the US$15.4M
Armed Police ranks prevent Motilall from removing the Synergy Holdings branded equipment
Amaila Falls access road, yesterday informed Chief Justice Ian Chang that ranks from the Guyana Police Force two Mondays ago prevented Motilall’s access to his seized equipment.
The two police corporals operating as sentry on the equipment at the time were reportedly presented with a Conservatory Court Order made by Chief Justice Ian Chang preserving Motilall’s rights to the equipment until further rulings.
Motilall, following the court ruling by Justice Chang, had attempted to remove his equipment from where they are currently stored in the interior but was prevented at gunpoint.
When the ranks were presented with a copy of the court ruling by Chang they reportedly made contact with their superiors but subsequently stood their ground and prevented Motilall from removing the equipment.
Attorney-at-law Miles Fitzpatrick who appeared before Chang on behalf of Motilall, yesterday, said that while he was not moving to make a formal application at the time, he wanted to update the court on what had transpired.
He further told the court that the two parties were in talks on the way forward.
Representatives for Attorney General Anil Nandall yesterday only sought time to file a reply. This, the court was granted.
Motilall’s attorney’s lamented the absence of the Attorney General saying that they would have preferred for him to be there in person to explain what had transpired.
Motilall had reportedly travelled to the location where the equipment was being stored and had attempted to remove them but the keys for the vehicle were taken away from the Synergy Team which included drivers.
Government on January 12, last, by way of Public Works Minister Robeson Benn, announced the cancellation of the US$15.4M road contract it signed with Synergy Holdings Inc, headed by Motilall.
One of the many reasons given for the project cancellation was Motilall’s failure to secure a performance bond, something that Minister Benn described as a fatal flaw.
Meanwhile as it relates to the performance Bond this publication understands that the pronouncements by the administration in the person of Winston Brassington, the court rulings and other related events are compounding the situation, further placing Government’s claim to the bond in further jeopardy.
Only recently, a source knowledgeable in insurance workings explained that the payment is not automatic.
Motilall’s performance bond expired ever since July 2011 but there was a stipulation that had allowed for claims to be made for six months and Govt. did make an 11th hour bid claim on the bond.
That bond was negotiated and brought into force when the contract with Motilall was signed in January 2010, with a duration of eight months. This means that for the latter half of last year, Synergy Holdings Inc. was operating with an expired bond, pursuant to its stipulations.
A police rank instructs the driver to remove from the vehicle
According to a senior official close to the matter, “This doesn’t mean that the claim is automatically valid. All aspects of compliance have to be thoroughly checked.”
The source, knowledgeable on the issue of insurance, explained that Hand-in-Hand will have to conduct investigations on every aspect of the claim before it is accepted or rejected completely.
Reports that the government and Synergy Holdings Inc still have some balancing up to do to determine who owes whom, could also affect the outcome of the claim made by the Government on the performance bond.
Motilall, following the announcement of the termination of the contract with Government, had claimed that he was owed in excess of US$1M.
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