Pres. Ali orders set up of special unit in ministries to monitor performance of contractors

Apr 11, 2024 News

Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, S.C. and President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali

Kaieteur News – Guyana’s Legal Affairs Minister and Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, SC. on behalf of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, on Wednesday instructed all state agencies to create a unit within their respective ministries to evaluate the performance of contractors executing government projects.

A memorandum sent out by the AG chambers said, “You are hereby advised to immediately make functional within your respective Ministries and Project Units, a unit to specifically and dedicatedly evaluate the execution of all contracts being undertaken in your respective sectors, in order to assess the performance of the contractors in the discharge of their contractual duties and obligations”.

According to the Memorandum, once contract breaches such as unjustifiable delays, substandard works, and other such fundamental breaches are found, then the unit must immediately invoke clauses contracts “dealing with notification of the contractor of the alleged breaches, and remedial provisions dealing with sanctions such as liquidated damages, forfeiture of securities and termination etc.”

To support the work of the units the AG Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs have set up a contract compliance Unit. “The functions of this [Contract Compliance] Unit will be to provide the relevant legal advice and appropriate guidance and actions when requested, including, the filing of legal proceedings when necessary, just and expedient so to do”, the memorandum stated.

This official instruction comes seven days after the president ordered that immediate action be taken to address delayed projects. On Wednesday April 3, Ali reportedly instructed all relevant ministries and agencies to issue letters for liquidated damages to contractors for delayed projects. He gave the instruction during an early-morning meeting at State House with Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh; Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, SC, and Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill.

The government’s objective is to penalise ‘non-performing’ and defaulting contractors who have gone past their project deadlines and justifiable extensions. The Ministry of Public Works might already be moving in this direction according to reports in the media. Reports are that the ministry is moving to terminate a multimillion-dollar contract awarded to Kalco Guyana Incorporated for the incompletion of Lot 8 B of the Conversation Tree to Dennis Street Road project.

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contractors, contractors’ performance, evaluate, President, President Mohamed Irfaan Ali

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