3 weeks ago
3
The Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (Udecott) is maintaining that the Judiciary is largely responsible for significant delays in the renovation, refurbishment, and upgrade works at the San Fernando Supreme Court building.
Udecott issued a press release on Thursday, claiming that the Judiciary had taken nearly two years to approve a contractor for the project.
The statement was in response to the Judiciary’s claims of “inaccuracies” in Udecott’s initial press release issued on July 28.
The conflict flared after Udecott attributed the prolonged setbacks to repeated requests by the Judiciary for changes to the scope of works, along with long delays in receiving mandatory approvals.
Following discussions with the contractor over a “mutual termination,” Udecott confirmed that the contract was officially terminated on July 17.
Two days later, on July 30, the Judiciary responded via a press release, acknowledging that infrastructure projects may encounter difficulties but pointing to “inaccuracies” in Udecott’s statement.
“The characterisation of delays as being primarily due to the Judiciary’s actions is wholly inaccurate and does not reflect the facts,” the Judiciary stated.
“In the interest of transparency and accountability, our records on this project include correspondence between Udecott and the contractor, which referred to the project delays due to the contractor’s persistent underperformance.”
To support its position, the Judiciary disclosed four letters dated between April 2 and August 22, 2024, containing correspondence between Udecott and the contractor.
The Judiciary also stated it had received no response from Udecott to its letter requesting a meeting with the chairman, which was sent on July 23.
In its press release on Thursday, Udecott maintained that delays stemmed from multiple factors. The company claimed it waited 528 days—from November 23, 2021, to May 5, 2023—for the Judiciary to approve the awarding of the contract to the top-ranked proponent.
In addition, Udecott said the Judiciary made six separate requests for changes to the project’s scope of works between 2023 and 2025.
Since terminating the contractor, Udecott stated that it has taken steps to begin a new procurement process and engage a replacement contractor to complete the project.
Describing the Judiciary’s response as “truly regrettable,” Udecott also criticised the decision to disclose records that identified members of its staff.
Regarding the Judiciary’s unanswered meeting request, Udecott said it has been liaising with other stakeholders and would respond soon on a way forward to revive the project.
Udecott and the Judiciary signed a Memorandum of Understanding on August 20, 2020, for the upgrade, refurbishment, and renovation of the Supreme Court building at Harris Promenade.
English (US) ·