By Elesha George
The Minister of Works and Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance, Lennox Weston said the Antigua and Barbuda government is prepared to bring a case against Bahamas Hot Mix (BHM) to the final court of appeal.
“We’re going to go all the way to the Privy Council, we don’t intend to pay them a cent before they have no teeth in their mouth and before cock crow,” he told OBSERVER media yesterday.
Weston said that the first round of arguments in an adjudication has already been submitted by both parties. This, he said, is the first stage of the case which may ultimately be heard by the Judicial Committee of The Privy Council (JCPC).
Earlier in the year, the government and BHM were said to have been locked in an arbitration, triggered by a disagreement over the project’s time of completion.
BHM was awarded the contract in September 2017, to rehabilitate Friars Hill Road and the Sir George Walter Highway, with the understanding that construction work would be completed in September of 2019.
BHM, however, insists that final roadworks will not be completed before June 2020 on the Friars Hill Road and September 2020 for the Sir George Walter Highway. Government demands that major work be completed by year’s end.