Browne: No need to probe Vikab Engineering on Port of Spain hospital project

Launching an investigation into Vikab Engineering Consultants Ltd would be premature and not necessary, said Senate leader of government business Dr Amery Browne.

In the Senate on Tuesday, he responded to a question from Opposition Senator Wade Mark about the allegations surrounding the company, including the claim by the Shanghai Construction Group that Vikab was responsible for stalling the $1.1 billion Port of Spain Gneral Hospital (PoSGH) project.

Browne said it was customary for contractors and consultants to blame each other when project issues arose, especially when contracts were terminated.

He said, “The Government has not launched an enquiry into the performance of Vikab Engineering Consultants Ltd on the Port of Spain hospital Central Block project.

“In the absence of a determination of liability by an arbitral tribunal, any such enquiry into Vikab would be premature at this stage. Further, the executing agency, Udecott (Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago), has not indicated any issues with Fidic (International Federation of Consulting Engineers) engineer Vikab on this project.”

Mark pressed for further details about reports or complaints submitted by both parties to Udecott and if Government had any information about them, but Browne reiterated that the overseeing entity (Udecott) found no issues with the consultant.

“What I can assure the Senator (is that) if same is submitted, the relevant checks will be done on correspondence received and issued, and the appropriate answer will be provided to the Senator and to the Senate.”

The PoSGH Central Block project was awarded to Shanghai Construction Group (Caribbean) Ltd (SCG), but it terminated the contract in January 2022, citing an unexpected extra US$9 million in freight costs, the financial fallout of bureaucratic delays, among other reasons.

SCG head Michael Zhang said in a statement to Udecott the delays doubled the completion time of the project from 22 to 44 months and also forced the company into “extremely difficult situation.”

He said then, “This unacceptable delay made us worry about the process of project management” and the change in the development design from the official had taken 165 days, "This additional 144 days – almost five months – adversely affected the progress of the other design work of the project."

Vikab Engineering Consultants Ltd has denied any wrongdoing.

In April, Udecott chairman Noel Garcia said it will cost taxpayers an aditional $110 million and two years to complete the projec. The block was badly damaged by an earthquake in 2018.

He said Udecott was also given Cabinet approval to hire local contractors to complete the work.