Court halts health project

The Court of Appeal slapped an interim injunction on the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (Udecott) yesterday from awarding a contract to Hafeez Karamath Ltd (HKL), the lowest bidder, or anyone else, for the construction of the administrative headquarters for the health sector at Queen’s Park East. The injunction is good until January 24, when a continuation could be sought. The court also ordered that, in the meantime and with urgency, Emile Elias’ NH International (NHI) be allowed leave for judicial review of the Udecott Board’s decision not to award his company, the second lowest bidder, the contract, in spite of advice to the tenders committee by Udecott’s quantity surveyors, architects and project manager that NHI be awarded the contract.

When the Board indicated its intention to award HKL the contract, NHI filed for judicial review but leave was not granted. NHI appealed through its attorneys Alvin Fitzpatrick SC and Rikki Harnanan, while Russell Martineau SC and Deborah Peake represented Udecott. In a judgment delivered yesterday by Justices Ivor Archie and Stanley John (president) and Alan Mendonca, the Appeal Court also ruled on a contentious issue, expressing the view that Udecott was a public body acting in the exercise of a public function when it put out the tenders. The court added, “During the hearing of this appeal, it also became increasingly clear that this case raises issues of general public importance, such as the true nature of bodies like Udecott, that need to be examined and decided for future guidance. The fact that there is no provision of facilities or service directly to the public does not automatically disqualify an activity from being a public function.

“In this case, several factors, including the fact that Udecott may be executing government infrastructural development strategies, the possible expenditure of public funds and the relationship between the government and Udecott must be weighed in the balance to determine whether there is a sufficient public element. At this stage we do not even know the precise nature of the relationship between Udecott and the government in respect of this contract.” Dealing with the main issue, the judgment stated that the quantity surveyor, in a comprehensive report, recommended that the method statement of the lowest bidder was incomplete and it was unlikely they would be able to complete the works at the price quoted. The architects agreed with this assessment and recommendation.