Former Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson and former General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation were today charged in relation to the sole-sourcing of a company to design a new Demerara Harbour Bridge.
They appeared before Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court where they were jointly charged with conspiracy to defraud.
Patterson and Adams were released on $200,000 bail each.
Attorney Glen Hanoman appeared for Adams while Attorney Ronald Burch-Smith represented Patterson.
They are expected to return to court on February 15.
The charges were brought by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) which on Friday last questioned both Patterson and Adams.
Patterson was once cleared in 2019 by investigators from SOCU when it comes to the sole-sourced $62M contract to Dutch company Lievense CSO for the design and feasibility study of the new Demerara River bridge.
But both the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) and the Auditor General had red-flagged Patterson for requesting from the then Cabinet that the feasibility contract be sole-sourced instead of being processed through the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).
The PPC had found that after the bidding process was annulled because of non-responsive bidders, NPTAB had approved for the project to be re-tendered.
