THE COURTS may have to resolve a dispute between the Ministry of Labour and KEL Construction Management, over payment for work done on the incomplete Overseas Employment Centre, East Street, Kingston.
According to Anthony Irons, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, the matter may end up in Court. He said on Thursday that KEL still owed the ministry millions of dollars it had collected without completing the contract. But, Ken Spencer, head of KEL, countered that it was the ministry which owed him at least $10 million, due to variations in the contract.
Both the Ministry and the contractor have avoided comment on the large number of labourers from the Central and West Kingston areas who were employed on the project. It has been reported that more than the required number of labourers had been employed, helping to balloon the cost from an estimated $52 million to $70 million.
The contract was awarded to KEL by the Government Contracts Committee and was supervised by the Ministry of Transport and Works. The centre includes the offices of the Overseas Employment Programme, as well as an overnight hostel for some 200 overseas workers.
Mr. Spencer told The Gleaner on Thursday that he had fulfilled his contractual agreements six months ago and signed a "practical completion statement" for the site. "I did all I should do. A lot of the bills were paid out of my pocket. I mortgaged my house to meet the payments. I had to borrow from my bonding agency to pay bills. I've bent over to do this job and now I am being sued by my creditors. I don't have a dollar to my name. Even if I collect all the money that is owing to me, after I pay off the debts, I still won't make a cent."
Mr. Spencer blamed the Ministry of Transport and Works, which supervised the project, for failing to prepare the bills. He said that months ago he requested a statement of accounts from the ministry, which has still not been provided.
But, Mr. Irons said that Mr. Spencer was talking "rubbish".
"He owes the ministry. He has gotten paid for work which is not completed and we've had to get new contractors to complete it." However, he said the contractor had completed some 90 per cent of the work.
Two sub-contractors who were formerly employed by Mr. Spencer were recently given new contracts by the Ministry of Labour to complete the electrical and plumbing work on the buildings. The centre should have opened from April, but no date has been set for its official opening.
