Gov’t seeks to cash in on performance bonds over contractor failures

-AG files claims for $186M

Government is seeking a total of $186M from performance guarantees issued for three projects, including a section of the Amaila Falls Access Road.

Attorney General Anil Nandlall last Wednesday filed actions against Citizens Bank Guyana, Caricom General Insur-ance Company Inc and North American Fire and General Insurance Inc, which put up the Per-formance Bond Guarantees and Advanced Reform Guarantees to assure and guarantee the performance of contractors. Govern-ment contends that the contractors failed to discharge their contractual obligations and as a result it is seeking to “cash in” the bonds and guarantees, a statement from Nandlall’s office said on Friday.

The three actions appear to be a shift in policy by the government which has not often enforced performance bond options. The opposition and other critics have harried the government over this. The quality of the work on the Skeldon Sugar Factory has led to critics saying that GuySuCo and the government should have moved to claw