VAMED Engineering GmbH yesterday acknowledged the Full Court’s September decision setting aside preservation orders concerning its hospital projects, but maintained that the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) must establish a separate lawful basis for seizing four company vehicles.
In a follow-up to Monday’s statement condemning the seizure, the Austrian contractor called on the GRA to disclose its legal grounds and supporting documentation and return the vehicles unless their continued detention can be justified.
“We acknowledge the Full Court’s September ruling setting aside the earlier preservation orders. However, VAMED’s position is that this does not dispense with the requirement for the Guyana Revenue Authority to establish a lawful basis for its separate enforcement action and comply with applicable procedures,” the company stated.
The vehicles—three trucks and a car—were seized on Saturday, November 7. VAMED said all four were purchased by and registered in its name.
Repeating its account of the encounter, the company said its attorney, C.A. Nigel Hughes, challenged the enforcement officer to identify the legal authority for the seizure. According to VAMED, the officer neither identified the specific authority nor produced supporting documentation or evidence of prior notices or demands.
The company described the seizure as an unjustified interference with its property rights and an escalation while its hospital contract dispute remains subject to arbitration under the International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Rules.
VAMED also sought an explanation for the absence of prior notification and said it reserved its rights to challenge the seizure and seek remedies.
“Respect for due process, private property and the integrity of arbitration must guide the conduct of every party,” it said.
There has been no response from GRA on the seizure.
The underlying dispute concerns contracts for the Maternal and Paediatric Hospital at Ogle, East Coast Demerara, and the New Amsterdam Hospital Campus in Berbice. The government terminated both contracts on July 23, citing persistent delays, contractual breaches and failures to bring construction back on schedule.
VAMED has disputed responsibility for the delays, alleging that the Ministry of Health withheld payments for certified work and failed to authorise the release of construction materials from the ports. The government has maintained that payment certificates did not establish an uncontested debt and that the sums remained subject to contractual provisions, valuation and rights of set-off.
The Full Court had set aside orders requiring the preservation of the two hospital construction sites and restricting interference with 52 containers and equipment at the Goedverwagting site. International Chamber of Commerce arbitration proceedings over the contracts began on July 28, according to President Irfaan Ali’s earlier account.
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