By Mark DaCosta- An Austrian hospital builder has publicly accused Guyana’s Ministry of Health of sabotaging two flagship hospital projects. The accusation comes in a media statement issued in Georgetown on 6 November 2026 by VAMED Engineering GmbH, the contractor for the Georgetown Paediatric and Maternal Hospital at Ogle and the New Amsterdam Hospital Campus.
VAMED says the ministry withheld payment for certified work, held up building materials at the ports and piled on bureaucratic hurdles. It also argues that the ministry lacked the expertise to administer a demanding international contract. The ministry rejects this account. Because the dispute is heading for arbitration, the statement is one side of a contested story, and the cost of the stalemate falls on Guyanese families who were promised modern care.
VAMED presents itself as a seasoned operator with more than 1,000 projects in 96 countries, and it insists the fault lies elsewhere. Its institutional representative in Guyana, Dr João Pedro da Silva Teles, said that in four decades the firm had “never experienced the degree of administrative obstruction that we encountered in Guyana.” He added that “the Ministry of Health repeatedly stood in our way,” and he warned that officials would rather “sweep the issue under the rug.” The company says “there is considerably more to this story than has been made public” but is limited in what it can disclose while arbitration is pending. It insists it “will not allow our silence to be mistaken for agreement” with the ministry’s version.
To bolster its credentials, VAMED cites praise from foreign leaders. Trinidad and Tobago’s health minister called one of its hospitals “106 beds of pure excellence.” Bolivia’s health minister judged a facility’s conditions “first-class,” and an Ivorian former prime minister spoke of “a company of international renown.” The company also notes that Dr Frank Anthony, our Health Minister, once told the National Assembly that “this hospital is being built by VAMED Engineering,” and later called it a “reputable international company.” The point is that the government knew whom it was hiring.
The statement then turns to the contract itself. Both agreements follow the 2017 FIDIC Yellow Book, which gives the employer duties as well as the builder, including timely decisions, payment certification and approvals. At the 2022 sod-turning ceremony, President Irfaan Ali conceded the framework was “something new” locally and spoke of “very, very high standards.” VAMED seizes on this to ask what training ministry staff received, insisting that “the Guyanese public deserves answers.”
The wider record shows how much is at stake. The Ogle contract, signed on 8 June 2022, is worth €149 million, and the New Amsterdam contract, signed on 12 July 2023, is worth €150 million. Together, the projects were meant to deliver specialised maternal and paediatric care in Georgetown and widen access to quality healthcare in Region Six. The ministry issued notices of intention to terminate on 2 June 2026, for two of the administration’s flagship healthcare megaprojects. VAMED says it is owed roughly €45.5 million, including at least €19.15 million in certified payments.
The government paints a very different picture. A senior official said all that has been done at New Amsterdam is the driving of piles, while almost half the works at Ogle are complete, and that no biomedical equipment has been shipped or installed at the Ogle hospital, now a year overdue. The ministry says the sums VAMED cites remain subject to contractual valuation, set-off rights and certification procedures.
It also says that presenting the financing problems in isolation from the contractor’s performance gives an incomplete and misleading account. It adds that it terminated only after giving VAMED numerous opportunities to remedy deficiencies. This publication cannot independently settle these competing claims, which will be tested before an arbitral tribunal. The Attorney General has said the seat of the arbitration is here in Guyana.
The dispute has already reached the courts. On 22 September, the Full Court ruled on the Attorney General’s appeal, and the Attorney General’s Chambers said the ministry can now take possession of the sites, containers, equipment and materials and proceed with the projects. VAMED has sought leave to appeal that ruling and a stay of the order. The government is also moving to recover €30 million in bonds after terminating the contracts.
For ordinary Guyanese, the implications are sobering. The Ogle hospital was designed as a 256-bed specialised facility for maternal and child healthcare, including surgery, intensive care, imaging and oncology. The New Amsterdam campus was to be a 230-bed, level-five facility with advanced diagnostics and five operating theatres. Every month of delay leaves expectant mothers, newborns and sick children in overstretched facilities, and Berbicians travelling further for specialised care. Idle sites deteriorate, legal fees mount and the final bill for completion may rise, all paid from public money. The trouble also tarnishes our nation’s name with the foreign contractors and financiers we need.
The ministry also has uncomfortable questions of its own to answer. Back in 2022, this publication’s peers asked why the Ogle contract was awarded without public tendering scrutiny. Stabroek News later asked why a brand-new New Amsterdam hospital was being built at all. Those queries were never fully put to rest, and they sharpen the demand for transparency now.
VAMED insists it has “not abandoned its commitment to the people of Guyana,” and Dr da Silva Teles declared, “We still believe those hospitals can be completed.” Whether that goodwill survives arbitration is uncertain. The stark truth, as the statement itself concedes, is that “both remain unfinished.” Whoever is ultimately found at fault, our mothers and children cannot be left waiting. Government must be open about the cost, the timeline and who bears responsibility, and it must decide how these hospitals will finally be built.
