GWI facing $19M lawsuit from contractor

The Guyana Water Inc. is currently facing the possibility of a $19M counterclaim from a contractor – R Kissoon Contracting.

The utility company, in 2018, had taken the contractor to court in a bid to recover some $1.4 million. GWI claimed then that the contractor had breached a contract and had outstanding deliveries from 2017.

The utility company, however, lost the case in court and while this counterclaim from the contractor has not made its way to court as yet, GWI said efforts to settle the matter out of court have also not been successful to date.

The company’s Corporate Secretary Nigel Niles told the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday that he has already reached out to the Attorney General Chambers and a meeting is set for this week.

“Attempts were made to negotiate with the contractor but those were not fruitful. The matter is still with [GWI’s] legal department and I intend to speak with the Attorney General,” Niles said.

Following the meeting with the AG, the GWI is expected to brief PAC on the next steps.

The contract was awarded to the contractor by the then Ministry of Communities in November 2017 for the extension of distribution of the coastal network from Byderabo to Agatash, Bartica, Region Seven.

It was found that although the entire contract sum of $9.2M was paid to the contractor and works were successfully completed, the contractor was indebted to GWI.

The $1.4 owed was mainly for pipes GWI claimed were still in the possession of the contractor.

But after GWI lost this case in court, the contractor claimed he is now owed $19M for downtime and additional work done with GWI.