Latest update January 17th, 2025 6:30 AM
GMC office const…Payments depended on engineer certifying the work– Hassan
The forensic audit conducted into the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) had reported on what was described as collusion between a foreign building contractor and the Board of Directors, in connection with construction
The GMC building located at Robb and Alexander Streets.
works on the Corporation’s head building.
The forensic auditor, Saykar A. Boodhoo, had stated that one Hanniel Madramootoo, an engineer attached to the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), was assigned to oversee the construction of the building.
In the wake of the auditor’s statements that Board officials and a Ministry of Agriculture Engineer inspected and may have given passing grades to construction on the building, knowing things were far from rosy, Hassan stated that all payments were made after the engineer would have given the approval.
According to Hassan, Madramootoo acted as GMC’s eyes and ears, on the ground and would have had to certify that the work which was done adhered to the standards.
He said that the engineer would also have had to state what the value was, before money could be disbursed to the contractor, Constantine Engineering and Construction Services of Trinidad and Tobago.
Hassan did acknowledge that on various occasions he would accompany Board members to some of these inspections.
Back in 2011 the contract had been awarded, through the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), to the firm.
The auditor’s findings did state that Madramootoo certified construction vouchers. However, he added that throughout the building, located at Robb and Alexander Streets, substandard work was evident.
For instance, the auditor stated that the wood used to construct the internal walls was poorly manufactured and the concrete walls are chipping, with paint peeling and falling off the walls.
“Within a few months after the building was handed over to GMC, there were leaks throughout the building via the roof,” the auditor stated. “A contractor (had to be) hired by GMC to repair the roof.”
The auditor detailed that old lumber and old zinc sheets with euroband were in fact used to construct the roof of the building. This is despite the Bill of Quantities for the contract stipulated that greenheart lumber be used for the building’s roof.
The auditor made it clear that from his investigations, GMC’s board and senior management, who he described as unprofessional and grossly negligent, are just as culpable as the contractor for the poor quality of work.
“Based on discussion with the General Manager and the Accountant, the (then) Directors made several visits to the building during construction.”
“However, the Directors failed to highlight the blatant poor quality of work performed by the contractor. There is no documentation to show that the Board acted to prevent the fraud that was perpetuated against GMC by the contractor.”
The audit report detailed that subsequent to the awarding of the contract, “An amendment in the amount of $7,620,984 on February 10, 2012 was done to increase the contract amount without going out to tender.”
The auditor observed that the amendment also extended the contract duration to March 16, 2012.
Shortly after the contract amendment, Constantine Engineering announced to GMC that they would be unable to complete the construction of the GMC office building.
As such another contractor was called in to complete the electrical wiring and relevant works to the GMC office building.
The auditor stated that what is unclear, however, is exactly how much funds were given to Constantine Engineering.
In the wake of all this, the auditor did recommend criminal proceeding be brought against Madramootoo and Nizam Ramkissoon, the “Owner and Managing Director of Constantine Engineering.”
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