On February 1, the Attorney General’s Chambers of the Ministry of Legal Affairs issued a Media Release, in which they stated that the Constitution of Guyana imposes a duty to take care of and protect public property.
The release outlined that due to the recent wanton destruction of public property and the properties of public utilities by contractors, there will now be a mandatory update in clauses in contracts issued by governmental, state and public bodies.
The new clauses will “compel contractors to repair and rehabilitate all damages or destruction caused or occasioned to any public property or the property of any public utility in the execution of their contracts.”
As such, it will now be the responsibility of the contractors
Breach of the clauses will result in the contractors covering all resulting costs attached to restoring the damaged property to its original state, public loss, and inconveniences suffered.
These costs will be taken from or levied against performance or other bonds lodged, retention securities provided, or from payments due under the contracts.
Earlier in January, Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) reported that excavator works on Aubrey Barker Road resulted in several of their structures being compromised.
This imposed damage brought about service disruptions for the surrounding areas. The efforts to restore the structures were made by members of the service distribution company.