The Port of Gulfport in Mississippi is suing one of its contractors for $5.8 million, with punitive damages, in relation to a major construction contract that is a year and a half behind schedule.
The state port claimed in a lawsuit filed in Circuit Court that the Rayville, Louisiana-based Southern Industrial Contractors (SIC) breached its $50 million contract to build terminals and transit warehouses for port tenants on the West Pier. The lawsuit said that the project was supposed to be completed in March 2016, but the work is “extensively incomplete.”
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The Sun Herald reported that the West Pier is currently being renovated and expanded, having received $570 million from the federal government following Hurricane Katrina.
The lawsuit also said that SIC breached its contract since the company failed to establish a definitive work schedule, provide enough workers and resources for the job, as well as punctually pay subcontractors and others. The suit also claimed that the company delayed the filing of some of its documents and that it had damaged port property while working there.
The port terminated its contract with SIC a year ago. The contractor’s bonding company was
Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America.
SIC, meanwhile, is suing the Mississippi Development Authority for $50 million, claiming that the organization and several other construction firms were negligent in the design and administration of a project to build a transit shed on the West Pier. SIC’s lawsuit said that, due to this, it was unable to perform its work as bid, and ended up losing the contract.
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