AG moves to court over undelivered motion scales

Aug 21, 2021 News

– Patterson, PS, Engineer sued for negligence

Kaieteur News – The Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, has moved to the High Court over the three Mettler Toledo Weight-in-Motion Scales that the former Government had purchased in 2016 but was never delivered.

Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall.

The AG sued former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson; his Permanent Secretary (PS), Balraj Balram, and his Engineer/Manager Lawrence Mentis. The AG also sued Nevpro Realization Limited, a Jamaican company for breach of contract by failing to deliver the scales.
According to the document seen by this publication, the AG is suing Patterson, Balram and Mentis, for $50M for loss and damage suffered as a result of the misfeasance in public office; in excess of $50M for loss and damage suffered as a result of negligence to the State and $50M for loss and damage suffered as a result of the misuse, misapplication, and improper disposal of public sums of money contrary to the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, Cap 73:02, Laws of Guyana.
Moreover, the Attorney General is seeking $50M from the Jamaican company for loss and damage suffered as a result of the breach of the contract dated December 6, 2016, and he is also seeking liquidated damages against the company in the sum of $7.2M calculated at 10% of the contract price for breach of contract.

Former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson.

According to the court proceedings that was filed, the AG is also seeking an order of restitution of all monies received as full payment under the contract made in the sum of $72,450,000 for breach of the said contract.
In addition, the AG is seeking $100M against all the defendants for aggravated, exemplary damages. Lastly, he is seeking other orders as the court deems just and reasonable prescribed costs.
The AG stated that with his position he has, inter alia, a duty in law to preserve the patrimony of Guyana by recovering land, money or other property that would be a financial loss to the State and the people of Guyana if found to have been taken or occasioned in, or by the contravention of the laws of Guyana.
It was stated in the AG’s facts that a director of the company who was supposed to deliver the scales, was the campaign manager for the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU +AFC) coalition for the 2015 General and Regional Elections and was closely associated with the AFC, the political party of which Patterson is a founding member.
According to the AG, for the fiscal year of 2016, $631,700,000 was allocated, through public funding, to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, under Project code 1902800: Sub-Head – Equipment. This was for the purchase of road building equipment for the Ministry’s Special Projects Unit.

Former Permanent Secretary (PS), Balraj Balram.

On November 1, 2016, the Ministry invited suppliers through the National Competitive Bidding and Restricted Tendering method of procurement, to bid for the procurement of 14 different Lots of specified goods, which included the motion scales.
El Dorado Trading, a local company was listed as the only bidder for the supply and delivery of the scales, and the company had made a bid of $10,200,000. However, the company was disqualified from the tender procedure due to its submission of a fraudulent manufacture’s authorisation for the supply and delivery of another Lot within the same tender procedure – as a result, El Dorado Trading was ineligible for the award of the contract for the supply and delivery of the scales.
Minister Nandlall further noted that instead of using the correct method of inviting suppliers to bid for the supply and delivery of the scales, PS Balram entered into a contract with the Jamaican company for the supply and delivery of the said scales, despite the company never being formally invited to bid for the contract in accordance with the provisions of the Procurement Act.
On December 13, 2016, the PS sent a letter to the former Chairman of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), Berkely Wickham, requesting a “waiver of the Tender Board Procedures and for the purchase through sole sourcing” of the scales from the Jamaican company.

Former Engineer/Manager Lawrence Mentis.

The AG stated that the PS did not advance or satisfy any of the conditions set out in the Procurement Act, as a reason for the request to use the single-source procurement procedure for the supply and delivery of the scales.
Later that month, a purported undated memorandum by former Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, was submitted to Cabinet for its examination and “No Objection” in relation to the said request.
According to the AG, there is no evidence for the year 2017, that Patterson, Balram or Mentis made any form of communication with the company to ensure delivery of the motion scales. As such, Minister Nandlall stated that trio’s alacrity to make full payment to the company for the motion scales was not replicated to ensure the delivery of the scales for which was already paid for.
On March 15, 2018, in excess of 90 days, six packages purporting to be the motion scales were shipped to Guyana by the Jamaican company. However, to date only three out of the six packages were found at the Laparkan Trading Ltd, storage bond in Georgetown, and none of the packages was opened to verify that the contents of the packages actually were the motion scales or components of the motion scales.