Contractor rejects claims that it breached contractual obligations

Nov 03, 2020 News

Health Ministry $356M headquarters contract…

CEO of Chung’s Global Enterprise, Cleon Chung

Kaieteur News – Chung’s Global Enterprise (CGE) has rejected claims by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, that it breached contractual obligations, leading government to rescind the more-than $356 million contract awarded for the construction of the Health Ministry’s main office.
Nandlall had sent a letter of termination to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Cleon Chung, pointing out that the company had received at least 90% of the contract sum but more than 70% of the works have not been completed despite getting a long extension period.
The AG said, too, that the company, one day after the new government took office, they received a revised bill of quantities (BoQ) which exceeded the initial contract sum.
The company, however, in a statement penned by Chung’s General Manager, Keisha Chung, said that it prides itself in the highest quality of work and strict adherence to contractual obligations. With that in mind, Chung’s Enterprise said that it was “misrepresented and treated unfairly” in the duration of the project.
Providing clarity, the company said while it received the contract on November 8, 2017, the Health Ministry’s consultant; VIKAB was only appointed on April 12, 2018 – 155 days later.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall

The Company explained that the consultant said that the project’s bill of quantities was “poorly prepared” with several inaccuracies discovered. This led to a “completely revised” bill of quantities being issued with additional drawings including piles and steel structure.
“This was agreed upon by both parties,” the contractor said but 98 days later, drawings were still to be issued.
It was only until September 14, 2018, the contractor added, that the first set of construction drawings were submitted by the Health Ministry’s consultant. The complete set along with the revised bill of quantities was issued on September 2, 2019 but by that time, the project was already delayed by 353 days.
Chung’s said: “Drawings were prior issued in a piece meal manner which impeded our ability to plan, price and procure.”
The company was keen to mention that all instructions and drawings prior to September 2, 2019 were “executed in a timely manner.”
Later on, the COVID-19 put a further damper on construction which halted on April 3, 2020 by the Task Force.
Construction restarted on July 17, 2020 but only in a limited capacity. Throughout that time however, the contractor said that the Ministry’s consultant “never issued a warning of termination.”
Chung’s said that the delays amounted to 768 days including the 317 days extension given by the government.
What is not being considered, the contractor said, is the extra 451 days of delays.
Moreover, the contractor sought to clear the air regarding the revised bill of quantities valued at $513.3 million. That revised bill, it said, represented a completely different project scope.
“The revised bill of quantities was not prepared by CGE, it was prepared by the MOH’s representative, VIKAB, and it should be noted that our First Revised Pricing was submitted in October, 2019 but due to continued negotiations with VIKAB, we were able to submit our final price on August 3rd, 2020 supported by quotations from our suppliers. Furthermore, our final price on the revised BOQ was within the estimated price that VIKAB came up with when they priced same,” the company said.
Chung’s said the variation items on the 2019 revised bill of quantities include curtain walls design, window layout and design and specifications, elevator design and specifications, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system design and specifications, electrical systems and arrangements, CCTV cameras along with plumbing systems and arrangements.
Included in the January 2020 variations was the building footprint extension, connection of block works to steel frame and the revision to electrical systems and arrangements.
“CGE is committed to ensuring the highest quality of work,” it said, adding “We reject any insinuation that we have erred and or failed to honour our contractual obligations. Further, we have worked tirelessly and diligently to ensure that this project was executed in a timely and professional manner. Though, however, the aforementioned issues thwarted our best intentions.”
Further, the company said that it welcomes any scrutiny that allows all the facts and details of the project to be available “in an open and transparent manner.
“We have no interest in wasting taxpayers’ dollars on a matter that could have been amicably resolved,” it said.