These idiots in office throw in the towel as they lack vision or moving Guyana forward. So far no new development under this incompetent govt with Jackass Granger at the helm selling his grandpa persona.
Gov’t cancels loan for Specialty Hospital
…courts India to modernise primary healthcare facilities
THE government has taken the decision to cancel the financing deal with India for the construction of a speciality hospital here, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan confirmed Friday.
The decision to terminate the line of credit was taken at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Jordan stated. The original financing, from India’s Exim Bank, was for US$18M, but funds were expended on the original contract to Surendra Engineering, leaving about US$14 million.
The previous PPP government was forced to terminate Surendra’s 2012 contract, citing fraud, and sought to recover the funds. The new government sought to salvage the project and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with another Indian firm, Fedders Lloyd, to design a new facility, keeping in mind the remaining amount.
When the APNU+AFC government came into office, it reviewed the project and concluded that since there was no existing contract that could be enforced, it was impractical to continue to keep the Line of Credit in its existing form, especially since it was attracting commitment fees.
The Ministry of Finance, however, noted that the government had requested the Exim Bank of India to cancel the Line of Credit for the specialty hospital and to re-allocate the balance of funds to a project to modernize three primary health-care facilities.
However, the Government of India (GoI) in its response, while indicating its no objection and support for the modernization of primary health-care facilities, suggested that the Guyana Goverment consider salvaging the specialty hospital, as it will complement primary health-care facilities in Guyana.
It was then that the government approached Fedders Lloyd, one of the original bidders, to explore the possibility of them completing the project and the MoU was signed. Fedders Lloyd expressed continued interest and was prepared to complete and fully equip the facility.
However, in mid-June, 2016, the government announced that India was not interested in pursuing the project with Fedders Lloyd, as the World Bank had blacklisted the company until 2020, because of its procurement policy.
Minister Jordan Friday said that the government decided to terminate the Line of Credit, because the time has already lapsed, and the uncertainty over when a new contractor could be sought to design, build and outfit the speciality hospital, would only result in further commitment fees, which essentially amounts to wasting money when no project exists at the time. He said that Fedders Lloyd owns the design it had come up with for the project.
The government’s decision to cancel the Line of Credit was communicated to the Indian High Commission Wednesday, Minister Jordan stated.
He said that the government is still engaging the Government of India to modernise the West Demerara Hospital, as well as the hospitals at Suddie on the Essequibo Coast, and Bartica in Region Seven.
