UDECOTT IN 'DOGFIGHT'
By NALINEE SEELAL Thursday, June 10 2010
Udecott is demanding that contractor Hafeez Karamath Ltd (HKL) remove ferocious pitbulls from the $885 million Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba where they stand guard round-the-clock, along with their handlers, blocking sub-contractors and Udecott employees from completing construction and outfitting work at the overdue sports facility.
Sources revealed HKL had the unmuzzled dogs placed at the stadium on May 21, following a fallout with Udecott over final payment for work on the project, which includes a cricket academy named after retired star batsman Brian Lara.
HKL was awarded the contract to build the stadium, which was originally scheduled to be completed by 2007 in time for the ICC Cricket World Cup. Its cost estimates have ballooned and the final figure may be an estimated $1 billion.
In his Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Udecott and the construction sector, commission chairman John Uff recommended that HKL be fired and that there be a full review of all contracts for the Tarouba stadium. Uff labelled the behind-scheduled project as “nothing short of scandalous”, “ a national disaster”, a “national disgrace,” and said it raised “serious alarm”.
Just two months after Uff handed over his report to President George Maxwell Richards, which was tabled in Parliament on April 6, Udecott is now in a dogfight with HKL over access to the site and disputed payments.
In a strongly worded letter sent yesterday to Udecott chief legal officer Brandon Primus, project manager for the Tarouba stadium Gerard Niles complained about the presence of the pitbulls, as wells as German mastiffs, which he said were hampering progress at the site.
In his letter he said, “I take this opportunity to alert you to recent events that may have financial and legal repercussions to Udecott. Last Friday, at 10 am, Mervyn Tyrel, a worker employed with McEnearney Business Machines, was startled by one of the dogs on the main level while walking toward the southern side of the stadium.”
“On Sunday, at 7.30 am, WSO Williams, an officer employed with Safety and Security Limited, while on foot-patrol was attacked by one of the dogs on the southern side of the main level. The dog jumped on the security officer’s chest before being called off by its handler.”
Niles called on Primus to address this urgent situation.
In response to Niles’ claims, HKL managing director Ellis Karamath yesterday said he had a security-dog detail assigned to the site to protect expensive equipment at the site.
“What we have been doing is securing what we have put into the stadium to ensure there is no pilfering or theft. That is the main reason because everything that Udecott’s consultants specified on that stadium had to be imported, so if I have to replace anything, it requires me going abroad which will be an added cost to me and the employer, which I am trying to avoid,” Karamath said. He denied Niles had been denied access to the facility but said there are some restrictions to some levels because of an electronic security system which he assured would be disclosed to the client, the Sportts Company of Trinidad and Tobago.
“I am categorically denying the project manager is being denied access to any part of the stadium. What we indicated to Udecott was that the doors carry a special security system which could only be handed over to the end-user, which is the Sportts Company, so therefore nobody has access to it.”
Karamath confirmed HKL did still have outstanding payments due to it by Udecott.
“We have been requesting final accounts from Udecott for the past year, and up to today this matter has not been resolved,” he said.
The dispute between Udecott and HKL over access to the sports facility is detailed in other correspondence between Niles and Primus. The bone of contention may stem from Udecott’s delay in paying HKL, as Karamath indicates. On April 29, Niles informed Primus that he had received a letter from HKL about the final payment. He disclosed that HKL had stopped work at the stadium on April 26.
“HKL’s action is not in accordance with the contract. This work stoppage is contractually premature and debatably without cause,” Niles wrote in a letter to Primus.
Then on April 30, Niles, wrote to Primus again indicating his employees were being refused access to the suite level of the stadium. Niles said he called HKL’s project director Raouf Ali but got no response. He said he went to the suite level where he met one of HKL’s supervisors, accompanied by a member of the security detail.
“I asked him to open the doors. He told me that Mr Raouf Ali instructed him...to close all doors and not allow anyone into the facility,” Niles wrote. He recommended to Primus that four baton security personnel be added to Safety and Security Limited’s present contingent, and also said these officers should be placed on the club, suite, service levels and the media tower.
“If contention with HKL escalates, we may need a further six security officers. The charge-out rate for these officers is $25 plus VAT per hour,” Niles told Primus.
Newsday learnt that on that same day (April 30), HKL was ordered to hand over a copy of all keys, with a tag indicating door or gate assignment, to Udecott by 9 am on May 3.
Sources said HKL was instructed that it would not be permitted to have canine patrols on the facility at any time, but may have a security presence to protect its works if so desired. Udecott’s chief construction engineer Hayden Paul gave the order that Udecott would employ security personnel to provide access to the building structure to any of its contractors, including HKL, as directed by Niles.
Minister of Planning, Economic, Social Restructuring and Gender Affairs Mary King, the line minister for Udecott, said she was unaware of the development since she was overseas since Saturday on a previously-arranged engagement. She would not disclose where she was and what was the event but said it had been arranged before she was asked by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to serve as a government minister and senator.
King was due to return last night and assured she would look into the matter.
“I will be asking for a full report on the incident,” she told Newsday.
King said she had been examining Udecott’s records and projects, including the Tarouba stadium. Commenting briefly on the presence of pitbulls and German mastiffs at the site, King said the country has good dog handlers, and she believed the security and access issue can be resolved.
Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Anil Roberts, who the Tarouba stadium is expected to be handed over to, yesterday said he too did not know about the problems Udecott has been having to access facility but said he will be visiting the site soon.
“We are in the process of selecting engineers to give us a complete report on the status of the Tarouba stadium with regards to safety, quality of work, and possible timeframe and cost for completion,” Roberts said.
“When we get that report, we will then be able to make informed decisions on the Tarouba stadium.”
Udecott’s public relations co-ordinator Roxanne Stapleton-Whyms, when contacted, said a Udecott team was sent to the stadium yesterday “to get to the bottom of this matter”.
