Super Industrial Services (SIS) has moved to get an injunction freezing $180 million of its assets removed.
On Monday, lawyers representing the company and its associate company, Rain Forest Resorts Limited (RFRL), began presenting submissions seeking to strike out the injunction, which the National Gas Company (NGC) obtained late last year in its ongoing contractual dispute with SIS over the construction of the Beetham Water Recycling Plant.
The legal proceedings continued yesterday before Justice Joan Charles in the Port-of-Spain High Court, with a third hearing scheduled for this morning.
The hearings are being held in chamber with only attorneys for the parties being allowed in court to protect confidential information being discussed from being disseminated by the media.
The injunction was granted on December 23 after protracted dispute with the companies and State-owned NGC over the US$162,055,318.77 project, which is still incomplete.
It prohibits SIS, which was awarded the contract to design and build the facility in March 2014, from removing from the country, or in anyway disposing of, dealing with or diminishing the value of any of its assets in T&T.
While the injunction froze $180 million of the companies assets, it does not affect its assets exceeding this value.
The dispute between the parties started last year after delays in the project, which was due to be completed on October 21, 2015.
The contract was eventually terminated on November 24 after SIS reportedly informed NGC it was unable to continue with the work “under the current circumstances and current conditions of the contract.”
Days later, Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs, Stuart Young, disclosed in Parliament that Government was considering all options in seeking to recover costs incurred on the project, which started under the former People’s Partnership (PP) government.
While NGC is yet to file a substantive lawsuit to attempt to recoup funds it had advanced to SIS for uncompleted works on the project, it sought the injunction to prevent the contracting company from attempting to dispose its assets before NGC’s proposed legal action is determined by the court.
NGC is being represented by Neal Bisnath and Lydia Mendonca while Navindra Ramnanan is representing RFRL. NGC’s legal team includes Senior Counsel Deborah Peake and Jason Mootoo.