BK appeals to Govt. for final chance to finish US$4M Good Hope Secondary School

Following the termination of his contract to construct the US$4M Good Hope Secondary School, BK International has written to the government, appealing to have another opportunity to finish what was started. Confirming this with Guyana Standard was Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall.

Moments ago, the AG said that the request which was sent in over a week ago is still under consideration.
The AG reminded that BK had given a commitment to finish the school in 2019 but never did. He was subsequently granted an extension of May 24, 2021. And even that deadline Nandlall said, was not honoured. The AG said this is even though it was the contractor who had set that date. What is also of concern to the official is the fact that the bond that was lodged for the school has already expired.

Nandlall said, “The project has to be secured by a bond so that if there is a defect in the construction, the government can resort to that for finances to rectify same and that is why every one of these contracts requires a bond enforced as a fundamental term of the contract…But this bond expired since 2019 and great latitude was extended to BK.”

Speaking to the swift action by the government to terminate the contract after the deadline was missed, the Legal Affairs Minister was keen to note that the government is no longer going to tolerate breaches of contract in any form or fashion, including but not limited to, the failure to observe contractual deadlines, constant requests for extension of time, the commission of negligent and substandard works, the use of substandard and inferior Materials, failure to have security bonds enforced during the currency of the contract, and failure to pay liquidated damages when they become due under contracts. Nandlall told Guyana Standard that these breaches occur too frequently while adding that they constitute a colossal wastage of taxpayers’ dollars.

Nandlall articulated, “We are not being unfair to contractors. We are encouraging more contractors to join in bidding for public contracts. Guyanese in particular must benefit from getting works under the massive projects being undertaken by the government.” Be that as it may, he categorically stated that these contractors must be prepared to discharge their obligations under the contracts that they are signing.
Nandlall was also keen to point out that contractors must recognize their capacity limitations and avoid bidding for more contracts they have the capacity to execute. In this regard, Nandlall said, “Frequently, it is found that contractors are guilty of biting off more than they could chew and that is a major reason for the breaches. Fortunately, our country is on an upward trajectory and there is work and opportunities for everyone so there is no need to take more than you can handle.”

Guyana Standard had previously reported that the US$4 million state-of-the-art Good Hope Secondary was funded by the World Bank through the Guyana Secondary Education Improvement Project (GSEIP). Upon completion, the A grade school was expected to have 26 classrooms, a library, a block for home economics, clothing and textiles, food and nutrition, art, science, and IT labs, as well as, a block for Technical and Vocational Training.

In April last, Education Minister, Priya Manickchand had expressed hope that the school would be completed in May so that students could be accommodated for the resumption of classes in September.

Minister Manickchand had said that the longer the contractor took to complete the school, the longer 1,000 children would be forced to be educated at other institutions that are not ideally equipped to deliver secondary education.