What does the Full Court ruling change for the government, the hospital projects and the contract dispute with VAM Engineering GmbH?
Government regains control of the sites
The Full Court has set aside five orders made against the State by Justice Renita Singh on 6 August 2026, allowing the Ministry of Health to take possession of the Ogle, East Coast Demerara, and New Amsterdam, Berbice, hospital sites. The Attorney General’s Chambers said the ministry may also take control of containers, equipment and associated construction materials and proceed with the projects as it sees fit. The ruling therefore removes the immediate court restrictions that had prevented the government from managing the sites and continuing works on the Georgetown Paediatric and Maternal Hospital and the New Amsterdam Hospital Campus.
The dispute concerned interim protection
The case was brought by Austrian healthcare infrastructure provider VAM Engineering GmbH after the Ministry of Health terminated construction contracts for the two hospitals. The High Court had ordered the ministry to preserve the sites, contractor documents, property, designs, plans and intellectual property. It also required 52 containers and equipment at the Georgetown site to remain unopened and undisturbed, while VAMED’s security personnel could access them only to secure them. The Full Court’s decision concerns the validity of those preservation orders, not a final determination of the parties’ underlying contract dispute.
Arbitration remains the route for the contract claim
The Full Court held that section 16 of the State Liability and Proceedings Act prohibits injunctions against the State in proceedings of this kind. It said that restriction could not be avoided by describing orders regulating government conduct as preservation orders or by relying on the Civil Procedure Rules. The court also found that the orders lacked the necessary statutory basis under the Arbitration Act 2024 and conflicted with findings that there was no urgency and damages were an adequate remedy. VAMED’s applications for conservatory and restraining orders were refused, and the contract dispute remains referred to arbitration.
IN NUMBERS
The ruling permits the government to resume control of the hospital projects while the contractual issues proceed through arbitration. The Attorney General’s Chambers said the State’s appeal succeeded and that the court awarded GY$500,000 in costs. The source does not report a final finding on whether the termination of the construction contracts was justified. For suppliers and public bodies, the decision illustrates the distinction between interim measures protecting property and the separate process for deciding contractual claims.
Reported from demerarawaves.com, 2026-09-24. The Tender Wire is published by Otnox.
