Speciality Hospital In Guyana To Be Built By Year-end

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Mar 16, (CMC) – The Guyana government says, an Indian-based company has completed design for the construction of the controversial multi-million dollar specialty hospital that is expected to begin by year-end.

Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, told a news conference, today, that a contract would shortly be negotiated with Fedders-Lloyd for the construction of the facility at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.

He told reporters, that the hospital would not cost more than the remaining US$13 million that had been provided through a line of credit by India’s EXIM Bank.

An artist’s sketch of the original design of the specialty hospital.

The previous People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration had scrapped the contract with the Mumbai-based Surendra Engineering and won a multi-million dollar lawsuit in the High Court here, claiming that the Indian company had defaulted in several areas of the contract.

The David Granger administration, while in opposition, had opposed the construction of the specialty hospital on several grounds, including Surendra Engineering’s lack of experience in the construction of specialty hospitals.

The Finance Minister told reporters, that Fedders-Lloyd has already modified designs for the specialty hospital to take into account the design and planting of piles done by Surendra Engineering.

“We are at a stage where designs for the hospital have been completed. This was not done before,” he said,” adding, that the “design that is deemed done had to take account of the work that was done by Surendra Engineering/BK International — the piles that were driven. Remember the two designs were different.

“The piles that were driven were for their design,” he said, reminding journalists that when the contract with Surendra Engineering was terminated, only 20 per cent of the designs had been completed.