High Court denies VAMED injunctions against state

Aug 07, 2026 News

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…orders both sides to preserve hospital sites pending arbitration

(Kaieteur News) – The High Court presided over by Justice Renita Singh, on Thursday shut down applications from Austrian company VAMED Engineering GmbH’s for several temporary orders against the Ministry of Health (MoH) in the specialty hospitals dispute.

In her ruling, Justice Singh found that while the court has jurisdiction under the Arbitration Act 2024 to hear applications for interim measures pending arbitration, VAMED failed to demonstrate the urgency required for such relief. Instead, the judge ruled that the dispute should proceed to arbitration, while ordering both parties to preserve the project sites, equipment and related assets pending the appointment of an arbitral tribunal.

VAMED had sought conservatory orders restraining the Ministry of Health from taking possession of or occupying the Georgetown Paediatric and Maternal Hospital and New Amsterdam Hospital sites, expelling its personnel or subcontractors, and enforcing a €14.9 million performance bond.

It had also sought that the application be heard inter partes and that the conservatory orders remain in force pending an expedited inter partes hearing and or the constitution of the Dispute Adjudication / Avoidance Board (DAAB) or Arbitral Tribunal clause 21 of the contracts,” this was also refused.

The MoH and VAMED were ordered to preserve the 52 containers and equipment on the GMPH site, not opening nor interfering with them. Only security personnel of the latter are allowed to access the site for the sole purpose of securing the said containers and equipment.

“The Ministry of Health is hereby ordered to preserve all contractor’s documents, property designs, plan and intellectual property. Orders 4 to 8 expires upon the appointment of the Arbitration Tribunal. By consent of The Attorney General and Mr. Nigel Hughes, the crane on site is to be returned to VAMED Engineering forthwith. Each party to bear its own cost,” the ruling added.

VAMED Engineering GmbH, a Vienna-based international healthcare infrastructure provider, had announced that it will pursue international arbitration against the Government of Guyana over unpaid, certified costs on two major hospital construction projects — a claim the government had firmly rejected, calling VAMED’s account a “misleading narrative” that omits critical facts about the contractor’s own performance.

VAMED said it is owed approximately EUR 45.53 million, including at least EUR 19.15 million in certified payments plus variations, indexation, additional works, and other contractual entitlements. The government’s own engineer has reportedly estimated Guyana’s indebtedness to VAMED at approximately EUR 37.94 million.

The claims stemmed from two Design-and-Build Contracts between the Ministry of Health and VAMED: a EUR 149 million agreement dated 8^th  June, 2022 to build the Guyana Pediatric and Maternal Hospital in Georgetown, and a EUR 150 million agreement dated 12^th July, 2023 for the New Amsterdam Hospital Campus in Region Six. Together, the projects were intended to deliver specialised maternal and pediatric care in Georgetown and expand access to quality healthcare in Region Six.

Government had pushed back against VAMED’s statement, rejecting what it called a “misleading narrative” that omits critical fact about the contractor’s performance and the reasons behind the Ministry of Health’s actions.

The government said it has remained fully committed to completing both hospitals from the outset, given their strategic importance to the country. It maintains it acted in good faith throughout, honouring its contractual obligations while repeatedly engaging VAMED to address delays, performance deficiencies, and contractual non-compliance flagged in reports from the projects’ supervising engineers.

The government argues the dispute cannot be reduced to a question of payments alone. Like any contract, it said, the agreements impose reciprocal obligations on both parties, with payments tied to measured, approved works and the procurement of construction materials and equipment. Officials say they repeatedly documented concerns over execution delays, missed milestones, inadequate mobilisation of resources, and VAMED’s inability to sustain the pace needed for timely completion — issues that formed the basis of extensive contractual correspondence over many months.

“The Ministry of Health exercised its contractual rights only after providing VAMED with numerous opportunities to remedy these deficiencies. The Notices of Intention to Terminate were issued pursuant to the contractual provisions after careful consideration of the contractor’s performance and in accordance with the dispute resolution mechanisms established under the contracts,” the statement said.

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• High Court, injunctions, specialty hospitals, VAMED

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