Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 18, 2015 News
Following a court judgment awarded January 23, 2015, Government is still to collect over US$4M from embattled Indian firm, Surendra Engineering.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, following queries by Kaieteur News, on Monday disclosed that the Government is still in the process of enforcing the judgment against Surendra.
The company is nowhere to be found, as its Berbice office is reportedly closed.
Nandlall said that one avenue being pursued to collect the money is to locate the assets of Surendra Engineering and levy against those possessions. However, this newspaper understands that Surendra has filed for bankruptcy in India.
On September 14, 2012 the Government first entered into a contract with Surendra Engineering Corporation Limited (SECL) for the specialty hospital project. It was agreed that the company would provide services related to designing, building, equipping, testing, delivering, installing and commissioning of facilities for the facility in Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara. The cost of the contract was over US$18M.
In December of that year Surendra Engineering received 20% of the contract price as an advance payment – approximately US$3.6M and November 2013 an additional payment of US$649,440 was made.
The contract was terminated when Surendra last year reportedly attempted to submit a performance bond from a company in Trinidad and Tobago called ‘World Bankers Re Company Ltd’. Following queries, the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago stepped in to reveal that ‘Worldwide Bankers’ was not a
registered company under the insurance act of Trinidad and Tobago.
Following the termination of the contract, Government moved to the Commercial Division of the High Court with Surendra being named as the defendant. Government was claiming damages in excess of G$100M, as well as special damages amounting to over US$4M.
Surendra had by then, flown the coop and vacated its local office in Berbice when court officials visited to serve the writ, so when the matter was called twice, on January 21st and 23rd of 2013, and no one appeared on behalf of the company, the court awarded judgment in favour of the Government of Guyana.
The Specialty Hospital project has been in trouble from the very start. At the time of tendering, another Indian company, Fedders Lloyd, had also submitted a bid. Fedders Lloyd’s bid was not only lower, but the company also had actual experience in constructing specialty hospitals across the world. Surendra, a spare parts fabricator for sugar mills across India, was found to have none.
Citing corruption in the matter, Fedders Lloyd had subsequently registered its objections in the manner the contract was awarded. Government had said that the specialty hospital would have reduced the need for patients to be flown overseas for urgent medical interventions.
Surendra is also facing questions over a US$4M contract for the supply of fixed and mobile drainage pumps that would have significantly boosted the capacity to help reduce flooding. It is unclear whether all the pumps have arrived.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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