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‘Govt. paid Wales contractor twice’ – company documents
…hands out US$97M more for works already catered for in contract agreement
(Kaieteur News) – The Government of Guyana (GoG) has handed the Wales Gas-to-Energy (GTE) contractor an additional US$97M for soil stabilisation works already paid for according the company’s official proposal submitted to the state.
After denying “secret payments” to Lindsayca/CH4, the Office of the Prime Minister on May 14 finally admitted that the GoG agreed to shell out an additional US$97 million following an “amicable resolution” to a Dispute Avoidance/Adjudication Board (DAAB) ruling regarding “soil stabilisation works required at the Wales site.”
Government explained that the coastal clay at Wales was “not fit for construction” and required “unforeseen” stabilisation, dewatering, and mountains of sand. As such, it was explained that the contractor had to do “extra jobs” to prepare the land, justifying a massive 12.8% increase over the US$759 million original contract.
Original bid documents submitted by Lindsayca/CH4 back in September 2022 and seen by this publication however reveal that soil stabilisation was never an “unforeseen” expense. In fact, the leaked documents indicate that these works were meticulously planned, scheduled, and priced by Lindsayca from the very beginning.
Table showing a section of the proposal submitted by Lindsayca in which soil stabilisation was included.
It is addressed under line item 133: “1.9.1.1 Vertical Vacuum Drainage System (Soil Stabilisation)” and line item 134: “1.9.1.2 Construction area Landfill & Rainwater drainage.”
The contractor explicitly mapped out a four-month timeline for soil stabilisation, originally slated to begin in January 2023, and a six-month timeline for landfill and drainage works. This means that the consortium was aware that that land required stabilisation and a vacuum drainage system, as written into the proposal.
Therefore, this raises the question as to how government was hauled before a dispute adjudication board in 2025 and lost over “extra” soil stabilisation works that the contractor already knew about and included in their schedule three years prior.
Paying twice
The proposal submitted by the consortium not only highlighted the need for soil stabilisation works and allotted a timeframe, but this was also budgeted for.
In the corresponding financial document, “Proposal Schedule 5 – Proposal Price Breakdown,” also dated September 13, 2022, the costs for these exact works are laid bare on Page 4 under “Item 5: All Other Works.”
According to the document, Guyana paid US$31,804,838.95 as seen under item 5.1.1: Vertical Vacuum Drainage System (Soil Stabilisation) and US$70,862,151.33 for item 5.1.2 relating to construction area landfill and rainwater drainage.
Combined, Lindsayca explicitly quoted US$102.6 million for soil stabilisation, landfill, and drainage in the company’s initial US$898.7 million bid. This figure almost mirrors the US$97M that government was forced to pay after losing the dispute.
Table showing the cost included in the contractor’s proposal for soil stabilisation at the Wales Gas-to-Energy site.
More questions
The documents leaked to this newspaper raises more questions for the chief policymaker of the oil and gas sector, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, the Prime Minister, Mark Phillips whose office is tasked with oversight of the energy sector and more importantly, the man at the centre of the project heading the GTE Taskforce, Winston Brassington.
In its negotiations with the consortium to reduce the initial contract sum from initial US$898 million to US$759 million, did the GoG slash the soil stabilisation item from the proposal, knowing the swampy Wales estate would still need it?
If the Taskforce removed soil stabilisation from the final contract to polish the US$759M price as a political victory, was it aware that Lindsayca would just claim it back via DAAB arbitration later?
Moreover, why did the government lose the DAAB ruling if soil stabilisation was listed in the contractor’s own technical proposal? How did Guyana’s legal defence fail to protect the Guyanese taxpayers at the Adjudication Board when the contractor’s own 2022 proposal spells out “Vertical Vacuum Drainage System (Soil Stabilisation)” in black and white.
Click link to see corresponding GTE documents:
Proposal Schedule 5 – Proposal Price Breakdown – https://kaieteurnewsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/GTE-doc-1.pdf
Proposal Schedule 07 – Project Schedule – https://kaieteurnewsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/GTE-doc-2.pdf
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Was it under the table with right hand, whilst left hand waiting for return ?
Nobody is reading the contract right ?
Why didn’t the Govt. ask Anil, the AG to go over line for line ?