The Auditor General, in his report on the Public Accounts of Guyana for 2024, revealed that that the Government is still to recover $121.7M from Tepui Group Inc after it rescinded the controversial multi-million-dollar Belle Vue Pump Station Contract from the company owned by social media commentator, Mikhail Rodrigues, aka “Guyanese Critic”.

According the Report of the Auditor General, which was presented to the House during the first sitting of the National Assembly on Monday, as of September 2025, the Tepui company had only repaid 6.25% or $8.11 million of the $160.894 million it received in advanced payments for the execution of the $870.5 million contract for the construction of the Belle Vue Pump Station.

It was explained that the contractor had received payments totaling $160.894M, which comprised of an advance payment of $129.831M or 15% of the bid price, in addition to an interim payment of $31.063M. However, the company has only repaid 6.25%.

“The advance payment bond expired on March 21, 2025 and at the time of the reporting in September 2025, the outstanding sum of $121.717M or 93.7% of the mobilization advance payment was still to be recovered,” the report stated.

It was noted that the performance bond has also expired with no clear indication of the periods of coverage stipulated and required under the contract.

Earlier this year, Gaico Engineering took over the project from Tepui after it experienced extensive delays. However, the Auditor General said while the project is now progressing, it has been significantly delayed.

“Physical verification on August 22, 2025 revealed that the contractor that was assigned the works was mobilized to site and works were in progress with the driving of the test pile, preparing metal ring caps and driving of timber piles for the foundation slap of the pump house structure ongoing, while a total of 206 timber piles were already installed, along with the construction of an earthen coffer dams, general excavation, earth works and demolition of the oil existing structure completed,” the report stated.

The Auditor General said for approximately one year, there has been no significant progress with the construction works which are now only at foundation stages, although the intended completion date was initially set at July 2025 before being revised to June 2026.

The multimillion dollar project, from the inception, was marred by controversies and discrepancies. The Auditor General, in his report, explained that the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) had awarded the contract for the construction of the pump station in Region Three to Tepui in the sum of $870.563M against an engineer’s estimate of $779.199M.

It explained further that an examination of the contractor’s bid document revealed that the award was first made on August 14, 2023 for the sum $865.544M, which corresponds with the amount stated in the contractor’s bid form and priced bills of quantities. However, the award was rescinded and a second award was made on September 15, 2023 to the same contractor for an increased sum of $870.564M – $5.020M more than the initial sum.

The Auditor General said added to that, Tepui failed to meet almost half of the requirements for the award of the contract.

“An examination of the contractor’s bid submissions revealed that the contractor failed to satisfy nine out of the eighteen requirements set out in the evaluation criteria to qualify for the contract award. The Contract was signed on September 22, 2023, with duration of eighteen months for completion. According to documents seen, Addendum №.1 to increase the percentage for advance payment from 15% to 30% was made on September 21, 2023, one day before the contract agreement was signed,” the report states.

Due to the extensive delays experience, the Office of the Auditor General called on the Ministry of Agriculture to improve its overall supervision of projects, and in this particular case, to ensure that the contractor fulfills all administrative requirements, contractual obligations and adheres to contractual timelines.

It said the project should be closely monitored to prevent further delays.

Related posts:

Mahipaul renews call for Critic’s pump station contract be cancelled AFC hammers Procurement Commission’s inaction on Belle Vue pump station contract Public Procurement Commission finds several breaches in award of $870M pump station contract to Tepui Company Tender Board defends award of $865M contract for pump station as questions surface