Contractors will not be paid in full for works on D’Urban Park
…Finance Minister says “take it or leave it”
By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell
“Take it or leave it.” That is what Finance Minister Winston Jordan is telling contractors who worked on the D’Urban Jubilee Park but are yet to be paid for the services rendered seven months after the project was completed.
Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan
Jordan hosted the Ministry of Finance’s end of year press conference yesterday.
He addressed a number of issues at that forum. Speaking about the monies owed for works done on the D’Urban Jubilee Park, Jordan made no qualms to say that contractors will have to take what is being offered and suffer the losses.
Last week, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson told the National Assembly in the Committee of Supply that Homestretch Development Inc (HDI) – the company that was originally responsible for the project – met with the Finance Ministry days before the 2017 budget. He said that it was agreed that $500M will be transferred directly to the company to pay off its debts.
However, yesterday, Minister Jordan indicated that approximately $798M is owed to contractors. He said that this is according to the list submitted to Ministry of Finance. Jordan said that the government can only afford $500M “as a full and final settlement. It means is that HDI would have to make some apportionment relative to the debts owed.”
Jordan said that it is a take it or leave it situation. “So if you were owed $2M by HDI, it works out that because of the situation you can only get $1.2M then you can accept it as a full and final payment.” The Minister offered a grand solution to those who may feel aggrieved and may not want to accept less that they worked for. He said, “You can sue HDI.”
But how practical will it be to sue a company that is no longer in existence? And, what would such a lawsuit mean for the government which placed a special interest in the company, even placing Education Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine on the company’s Board of Directors?
In 2016 a total of $479M was allocated to the project. The additional $500M means that government paid $979M for the project.
Minister Patterson had told the National Assembly that HDI provided the government with an audited report which states that the company had collect $27.7M in cash donations while contributions in kind were valued at $33,956,000.
The D’Urban Park project, undergone for Guyana’s 50th Independence celebrations, has been shrouded in secrecy since its inception.
Opposition Member of Parliament, Juan Edghill, had tabled a motion on the D’Urban Project. That motion called for answers on several aspects of the project. The government, using its one seat majority, blocked the Motion.
But Patterson, addressing issues contained in the Motion listed the directors of HDI, named Lawrence (Larry) London as the Chairman of the Company. London is also the Chairman of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
Patterson also named the other directors but neglected to name Minister of Education Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine.
People’s Progressive Party/Civic said that a “scandal of monumental proportions” surrounds the execution of the Durban Park Project.
Edghill had told the media that he was disappointed in the way the government handled that “simple Motion of transparency.” He said that more questions than answers remain. He said that in addition to the hundreds of millions spent from the public purse, more State resources were utilized in the form of material provided by other State institutions like the Demerara Harbour Bridge Company.
