- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Hier 20:23

ODPM ordered to pay $2.3m to contractor

A High Court judge has ordered the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) to pay one of its contractors $2.3 million owed to it. Justice Kevin Ramcharan made the order on June 24. The case was brought by Triple D’s Equipment Rental, which took action against the State in 2021 for sums owed by the ODPM for rental equipment, trucks, haulage and storage. Triple D’s is a member of the Dindial Group of Companies. According to Triple D’s claim, it provided services for the ODPM from 2010 up to 2021 when it filed its claim. From 2012, it continued to provide services and had, by that time, leased nine trucks to the ODPM, providing drivers and accommodating the trucks and trailers since the agency did not have the facilities to do so. The parties entered a third contract in 2013 to provide vehicle and maintenance services on a month-to-month basis until a formal contract could be finalised. Fifteen vehicles were leased to the ODPM. The claim said that in June 2014, the ODPM informed Triple D’s that all service providers would not be paid for services unless there was a contract signed by the Ministry of National Security, but this was expected to be provided in a week’s time. The contractor said the ODPM asked for a month to finalise contractual arrangements, but advised Triple D’s to continue to provide its services, assuring they would be paid. By March 2015, Triple D’s was told because of cutbacks in government expenditure, it would no longer be renting four tractor trucks or an SUV. On September 3, 2015, four days before the general election, Triple D’s managing director, Derek Dindial, wrote to the ODPM for outstanding payments and was assured the matter would be dealt with as there were no queries on the outstanding invoices. However, by January 2016, the contractor’s attorneys sent a pre-action letter demanding payment. It received partial payment by cheque, and on October 10, 2016, Triple D’s was told all services would be discontinued effective at the end of the month with new contractual arrangements. The contractor said that on receiving the ODPM’s letter, it ceased all work and requested outstanding payment while also storing the agency’s containers on its property as requested. It was only in July 2020 that the ODPM’s containers were removed to its site in Mausica. In its lawsuit, Triple D’s said it was owed $5.17million for work and services. The contractor maintained it was entitled to payment on a quantum meruit basis, which is the reasonable sum to be paid for work done when the amount due is not stipulated in a legally enforceable contract. “The claimant did not engage itself. The ODPM engaged it,” its lawsuit maintained. In a counterclaim, the ODPM contended that Triple D’s was indebted to it by $40,161.74. In its defence, the state argued that Triple D’s did not undergo a proper contracting procedure and as such the rentals of equipment and storage done by the ODPM could not be paid for. Ramcharan rejected this argument. In his ruling, he said, “The court is satisfied that the claimant is entitled to compensation for the services it rendered to the defendant. “Whether there was compliance with the Central Tenders Board is not material as to whether the claimant is entitled to compensation for services it provided in good faith. “It is clear that the permanent secretary in the Ministry of National Security was aware of the arrangement between the claimant and the ODPM, and either impliedly or expressly ratified it. “Whether this is in compliance with the CTB Act does not affect the ability of the claimant to be compensated for the services rendered.” However, the judge did not rule in the contractor’s favour on the enforceability of an oral agreement for the storage of the ODPM’s containers. Ramcharan said that while the CEO, Dr Stephen Ramroop, could not recall his conversation with Dindial, and there was no documentary evidence, there was some communication between the parties after 2019. “The question that has to be determined is whether there was an agreement between the parties for the storage of the containers after the retrieval of the containers. The court is minded to find that there was such a conversation between the claimant and the ODPM. The question is whether such an agreement is enforceable.” In deciding the issue, Ramcharan said Triple D’s was aware, by that time, that the ministry was insisting on written contracts. “In the circumstances, the claimant ought to have known that any contract with the ministry through the ODPM would have to be reduced to writing. Despite this, not even a confirmation in writing was sent by the claimant. The claimant would, therefore, have been well aware that the necessary steps would not have been taken to formalise the contract. “The contract for storage is therefore unenforceable.” The judge also declined Triple D’s claim for repairs of the trailers, ordering judgment of $2,351,501.06, with costs. The ODPM’s counterclaim was dismissed. Ramcharan said it was always at liberty to retrieve its containers and held that it failed to prove there was any overpayment. Attorneys Kelvin Ramkissoon, Rajiv Sumair, and Antonella Narinesingh represented Triple D's, while Roger Kawalsingh appeared for the AG. The post ODPM ordered to pay $2.3m to contractor appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.