Yesterday, Madame Justice Kurtzious, ruled in favour of the Attorney General’s Chambers, thereby dismissing an action in which Dynamic Engineering Construction Company Limited was seeking in excess of $242M in damages from the Government of Guyana.
The action, 2015-HC-DEM-CIV-W-250: Dynamic Engineering Construction Company Limited v AG and Ministry of Public Infrastructure, was filed on July 9, 2015.
The company, in its statement of claim, alleged that it was assigned the contract titled ‘The Design and Construction of Kurubrong Bridge Amaila Falls Hydro Electricity Project’ (FS: NPTAB: 2914/2012), but that the contract was breached by the previous Government.
Guyana Standard understands that the construction of the Kurubrong Bridge was part of a larger body of works aimed at completing the Amaila Falls Hydro Electricity Project which was proposed by the then Government of Guyana in 2009. The project was abandoned by a new Government in 2016, which cited concerns about the project’s financing.
The Plaintiff said that a notice was eventually issued by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure directing that the Plaintiff not proceed with design works, which it claimed amounted to a breach of contract.
Specifically, the Plaintiff sought:
-Damages in excess of $121, 000, 000 (one hundred and twenty-one million dollars) for breach of contract, loss of profit and loss damage;
-The sum of $121, 879, 552 (one hundred and twenty-one million eight hundred and seventy-nine thousand five hundred and fifty-two dollars) for loss of profit and other loss or damage; and
-Interest at a rate of 6% per annum from the date of filing to the date of judgement and at a rate of 4% per annum until fully paid under the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, Cap 6:02.
Counsel for and on behalf of the Attorney General, however, argued, among other things, that there was no breach of contract, and that Dynamic Engineering Construction Company Limited did not provide evidence of the loss, including loss of profit, and other damages.
The Justice Kurtzious conducted a trial on December 9, 2020. The Plaintiff called two witnesses who were cross-examined by Counsel for the Attorney General’s Chambers.
On February 1, 2020, Justice Kurtzious ruled that there had been no breach of contract by the Defendants. Accordingly, the Plaintiff’s action was dismissed and costs in the sum of $75,000 was awarded to the Defendants.
