Insiders say situation tarnishes reputation of entire industry

A local construction company recently awarded a multimillion-dollar federal contract has suddenly closed, gone into receivership, and the whereabouts of the man believed to be the owner are unknown.

Gloucester-based ICI Construction Management's president and apparent owner Roland Eid has not returned calls to the OBJ despite two weeks of attempts to reach him. Allegations are rampant that he left Canada for the Middle East, on or around Christmas Day.

Provincial Ministry of Government Services records show Mr. Eid's house, at 1516 Prince of Wales Dr., was recently sold.

A number of ICI's employees have been seen on the local unemployment rolls. The company's website appears to be out of order, and its offices on Algoma Road are closed. A note on the door indicates that all matters are to be taken up with an insolvency firm assigned to ICI.

Industry insiders say the situation has left the local construction industry with a black eye, while a former employer of Mr. Eid's told the OBJ that he once fired the man over a money issue.

Surgeson Carson Associates trustee Kevin McCart said his company has been put in charge of figuring things out.

"Right now, as far as I know, it's closed down," Mr. McCart told the OBJ. "No seems to know where the owners are. Right now it's in limbo, pending some lawyers doing something. We have access to the building, that's it. Outside of that, I didn't know the owners, or much about the company at all."

He said he didn't know when the company stopped operating, and added that he hasn't been contacted by any employees. It is unknown precisely how many employees worked there, but industry sources said some of them are putting their names out for jobs elsewhere.

Last August, ICI was awarded a $4.5-million contract to move, rebuild and demolish a number of buildings for an RCMP training facility, on land owned by the Department of National Defence. ICI has ceased work at that west end construction site off Shirley Boulevard, said Lucie Brosseau, spokesperson for Public Works, the department that awarded the contract to ICI in August

"We, together with the bonding company are investigating the situation," she said. "This contract has performance and labour and material bonds, and therefore we will be dealing with the bonding company to have the work completed and any outstanding issues dealt with."

Public Works refused to comment on any of the allegations that are swirling regarding Mr. Eid and ICI, but said the federal government is not missing the entire $4.5-million sum.

"As per the terms of the contract, only work completed to date has been paid, as per normal practice. This work includes the concrete foundation and some underground services."

Sources suggest Mr. Eid has left Canada for Lebanon or Syria. In addition, there are reports some of the company's receivables were sold. At press time, nothing could be confirmed regarding the company's finances.

ICI Construction Management was a member of both the General Contractors Association of Ottawa (GCAO) and of the Ottawa Construction Association (OCA).

Representatives of the OCA did not return calls to the OBJ for comment.

Doug Burnside, recently elected president of the GCAO, said his organization is troubled by the news, which he said was a hot item of conversation at a meeting last week.

"We are reasonably safe to assume that something serious has happened," he said, adding that "everything we know to date is hearsay."

"ICI was one of our members. We are completely embarrassed and shocked . . . nothing like this has occurred in Ottawa in many, many years, more than 10. We will certainly be distancing ourselves from ICI, if indeed this proves to be fact. We are investigating our bylaws for expulsion and suspension, as we await the truth."

Mr. Burnside said ICI picked up "its fair share" of moderately sized projects in town, calling the firm "quite competitive."

"He was somewhat opinionated, and voiced some concerns at our meetings, raising points with our guest speakers. Let's call him one of our more vocal members," Mr. Burnside said of Mr. Eid.

John Westeinde, owner and operator of Ottawa's Westeinde Construction, once employed Mr. Eid before he was with ICI.

He said his company fired Mr. Eid, who was a manager of Westeinde's small projects division, with cause, some time ago in a dispute over monies owed, which Mr. Westeinde said was $75,000.

The company pursued the money "privately," Mr. Westeinde said, not through the courts.

"I guess that pursuit has stopped, since he evaporated," he told the OBJ.

"I think it's unfortunate that a person in our line of business, in the construction business, does that sort of thing, and ends up sometimes giving the industry itself a bad name, because of one bad apple," he added. "It's unfortunate I think, and totally incorrect."

Mr. Burnside agreed. "There's a stigma that goes with people's perceptions of general contractors. If this is true, this is a real black eye for general contractors. We have 62 members, most of whom have excellent track records. It only takes one to give us a bad name."

In addition to the $4.5-million contract, National Defence department records show that Mr. Eid's company received $420,000 in March 2006 for some construction work. This past holiday season, ICI helped sponsor the OCA's annual Christmas Gala at the Chateau Laurier. The company agreed to pony up some $2,000 to, among other things, pay for part of the evening's entertainment, including a magician, according to the OCA's website.

Sometime after the Nov. 24 gala, Mr. Eid allegedly pulled off a disappearing act of his own that has left trustees, the association and the Public Works department scratching their heads.