Dear Editor,
Congratulations are in order for Guyana’s Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, and Deputy Solicitor General Shoshana Lall, and attorneys Prithima Kissoon and Joshua Cullen, all of the AG’s Chambers, as the “Full Court has cleared the way for the state to take possession of VAMED hospital sites.” I predicted this win in my letter titled, “Attorney General in typical nationalistic mode-August 24, 2026)”.[1] My conviction then was based on the AG’s alacrity, acumen and a sense of patriotic commitment, all of which have come to characterise his team of dedicated ‘workers for Guyana.’
This means that the way is cleared for “… the Health Ministry to take possession of the affected hospital sites, containers, and equipment,” since the ‘preservation orders’ were set aside. The Full Court explained that, “…the preservation orders cannot stand (as) they are inconsistent with the learned trial Judge’s findings.”
Editor, there is no need to get into the minutiae of the case, but it is good to know that the Full Court awarded the state GY$500,000 in legal costs, plus the Government is now able to safeguard a massive €30 million in performance bonds (roughly €15 million for each of the two hospital projects).
I point this out as an antidote to the silliness of accusing the Government of massive corruption, as ‘corruption’ pays no attention to matters like this one.’ In fact, I made a single, quick check and I noted that via the Ministry of Legal Affairs’ Contract Compliance Unit, the AG’s office has already imposed billions of Guyana dollars in liquidated damages and also penalized defaulting or corrupt contractors-e.g. In the 2023 financial cycle alone, the government aggressively moved to terminate substandard contracts worth $1.857 billion.