The Guyana Government has won a major legal victory in its dispute with contractor VAMED Engineering GmbH over the construction of the Georgetown Paediatric and Maternal Hospital and the New Amsterdam Hospital Campus.
The Full Court on September 22, 2026, allowed Attorney General Anil Nandlall’s appeal against five preservation orders that had restricted the Ministry of Health’s access to the projects and equipment.
Chief Justice Navindra Singh and Justice Zamilla Ally-Seepaul set aside the orders made by Justice Renita Singh on August 6, 2026, which required the Ministry of Health to preserve the two project sites, 52 containers and equipment at the Georgetown site, and contractors’ documents, designs, plans and intellectual property.
The Full Court found that the orders could not stand because they were inconsistent with the High Court judge’s earlier decision refusing VAMED’s applications for conservatory and restraining orders.
“This appeal concerns the validity of five Preservation Orders made by the Learned Judge, following her refusal to grant Conservatory and Restraining Orders sought by VAMED Engineering against the Ministry of Health,” the Full Court stated.
The judges found that the preservation orders had effectively imposed restrictions similar to the interim relief that had already been refused.
“Their legal foundation was inadequately established and their substantive effect was not properly considered,” the Court said.
A key issue before the Full Court was whether injunction-type restrictions could be imposed against the State by describing them as preservation orders.
The Court held that Section 16 of the State Liability and Proceedings Act prohibits injunctions against the State in proceedings of this kind.
It further found that the prohibition could not be bypassed by characterising orders regulating the State’s conduct as preservation orders or by relying on the Civil Procedure Rules.
The Full Court also found that the orders did not have the necessary statutory basis under the Arbitration Act 2024.
It noted that the trial judge had found there was no urgency in the matter and that damages would provide an adequate remedy.
Those findings were important to the Full Court’s conclusion that the preservation orders could not properly be maintained.
The underlying dispute stems from the Ministry of Health’s termination of VAMED’s construction contracts for the Georgetown Paediatric and Maternal Hospital and the New Amsterdam Hospital Campus.
While the Full Court has now remo
Source: NEW ROOMS SITE
