Ministry retenders St. Rose’s High School construction project

Feb 02, 2021 News

Aerial shot of the St. Rose’s High School dated at September, 2020.

Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Education (MoE) has issued an invitation for bids for the construction of the St. Rose’s High School at Camp and Church Streets, Georgetown. This development follows the People’s Progressive Party/Civics’ (PPP/C) government decision to terminate the $412M contract for the construction of the school. The project was initially awarded to local contractor, Courtney Benn Contracting Services Limited (CBCSL).
According to the bid invitation, the bidding will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) procedures, as specified in the Procurement Act 2003 and Regulations 2004, and is open to all eligible contractors.
As one of the requirements the MoE stated, is that all bids must be accompanied by a valid National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Compliance Certificates. These bids were also required to be delivered to the Chairman of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) by February 24, 2021.
Previously, Kaieteur News had reported that the government terminated this same contract with the Courtney Benn Contracting firm after it had failed to meet contract obligations. Some of the infractions included failing to complete the school’s construction, despite the fact that this contract had been awarded since 2018. At the time of investigations in 2020, it was highlighted that this contractor had only managed to complete nine percent of the works, as confirmed by the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, as well as the Auditor General, Deodat Sharma.
“As a consequence,” a letter by the Attorney General had stated, “your company has committed a fundamental breach of the terms of the contract and as a result thereof, the Government of Guyana hereby exercises its right to terminate the contract with immediate effect.”
The termination of the firm’s services, according to the AG, was grounded on the breach of Clause 40.2 (a) for failing to comply with the schedule works; as well as the breach of Clause 40.2 (g) read along with the special conditions of the contract for inordinate delay in the completion of works under the contract.
Kaieteur News had reported in September 2020 that an advancement of $60M was issued towards Courtney Benn for the school’s construction. However, shortly after the initial stages of a pile-driving exercise started in January 2020, the school’s Board of Governors observed that the contractor had abandoned the site. In fact, the school’s board reported that the contractor had removed all of its construction gear and personnel from the Camp and Church Streets site, and was keen to note that no explanations were given by the contractor for its action.
Notably, the government, through AG Nandlall, had brought litigation against the Courtney Benn Contracting firm, suing for more than $400M for its breach of contract as it relates to the St Rose’s High School.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News