FOLLOWING much controversy surrounding the construction and operation of the Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill (HBSL) project which is being executed by BK International, the Government of Guyana is currently in a position where it is unable to respond to the challenges at the facility. This is according to Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Communities, Emil McGarrell, who explained on Friday at a press conference that the issue regarding payment for services by BK International at the HBSL site is currently before the court.
According to McGarrell, contrary to reports by BK International that the company is currently engaged in an agreement with the Government of Guyana, it is actually an agreement between the Government and BK International/Puran Brothers Disposal Service. This, he said, is a joint operation by the two companies that the Government had awarded the contract to in 2009.
“Government does not have a contract with BK International; Government has a contract with
BK International/Puran Brothers Disposal Services,” the PS clarified.

Payment
As it is presently, BK International is demanding payment in excess of US$9M for work that would have been done from June last year to the present.
However, McGarrell related on Friday that even with the expertise available to the Ministry and by extension the Government, they are unable to respond to the challenges and to lift the landfill site operation to a place where it could be satisfied.
Acknowledging late payments on the part of the Ministry, a statement issued on the same day noted that the cause for this was the (in) action of the joint venture as it relates to the project. They explained that following the withholding of operations payment for January to May 2012, due to compliance issues, BK International/Puran Brothers Disposal Services, by letter dated June 06, 2012, had suspended the contract due to non-payment.
“BKI/PBDS letter of April 18, 2012 requested permission to suspend construction on Cell 1. Cell 1 was initially scheduled for completion of construction on Jan 31, 2011. On Aug 16, 2012 BKI/PBDS indicated its termination of the contract with immediate effect” the Communities Ministry further revealed.
Subsequently, the termination letter was withdrawn by letter dated Aug 24, 2012. No reason was given for reversal, they said, adding that the Government by letter of August 27, 2012, indicated that BKI/PB had failed to provide a performance bond for the operations for 18 months.
As such, McGarrell reiterated that because of an active court matter which is currently engaging the attention of the Attorney General, the Ministry, the Government and BKI/PBDS must await the outcome before a decision regarding outstanding payments could be made.

Vague contract
The Ministry also refuted claims that the contract issued for the project is “vague”, as was described by Managing Director of BK Group of Companies, Brian Tiwari.
Tiwari had told reporters last week that even though he was skeptical of signing the contract due to its “vagueness”, he nevertheless proceeded with it, since he was assured by the then Government that it would be amended. He said however that this was never done.
But the Ministry is maintaining that the contract awarded in 2009 is not a vague one and if concerns had been raised by BK International, then logically, they should not have signed the contract.

Compliance Issues
According to the Ministry, a letter to BKI/PB dated April 10, 2012, identified parameters and data to be presented by contractor. These included measurements of waste volumes and waste volumes recycled, surface and ground water and air quality, leachate heads in landfill cell, landfill gas monitoring and complaints, and mandated that equipment for waste handling and compaction should exceed 90% availability. However, despite this, the Ministry maintains that there is no evidence to indicate that these issues have been adequately addressed to date.
“Letter to BKI/PBDS dated April 26, 2012, identified several deficiencies in operations including absence of intermediate and daily cover, inadequate and inoperable landfill operation equipment, non-utilisation of a landfill compactor compromising the mandated compacted waste density, and absence of leachate pumps” the statement from the Ministry revealed.
Prior to this however, an addendum of June 28, 2012, signed by BKI/PBDS, mandated completion dates for several items including the leachate treatment system and Sedimentation Ponds all of which remain incomplete.
Additionally, they explained that BKI/PBDS, as was contractually mandated, was requested on June 26, 2012, to operationalise a composting facility for organic waste to increase landfill capacity. However, this composting facility was never operationalised.
“BKI/PB was cited again on July 03, 2012, for non-compliance and indicated that payment would not be made if the issues were not addressed. The contract mandates submission of monthly and quarterly monitoring data for the landfill. This has been honored mostly in the breach by BKI/PBDP” the Ministry further added.

By Ravin Singh