Sale of Pradoville lands : Corruption charges coming for Jagdeo …five ex-ministers of PPP

guyana chronicle

October 15, 2015

THE State Assets Recovery Unit is recommending that Attorney General Basil Williams put systems in place so that charges of “misconduct in public office” can be laid against former President Bharrat Jagdeo and five ministers of the former administration.The five former People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government ministers at reference are: Agriculture Minister, Robert Persaud; Public Service Minister, Dr. Jennifer Westford; Education Minister, Priya Manickchand; Labour Minister, Dr Nanda Gopaul; and Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee. The recommendations follow a probe into what sort of procedures were followed prior to the transfer and issuance of prime State lands at Sparendaam, on the lower East Coast, to former government ministers and persons perceived to be their friends and associates. Among those who were fortunate to have secured land in up-market “Prado Ville 2” are Ghansham Singh and Kamini Parag-Singh, son and daughter-in-law of former Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh; Florrie Loretta Ramnauth; Compton Bourne; Ramesh Dookhoo, former Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC); Gary Best, former Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF); Shalimar Ali-Hack and Moeenul Hack; Raj Singh; Shaik Baksh, former minister of housing and water; Lisaveta Valantina Ramotar, former President Donald Ramotar’s daughter; Andrew Ranji Bishop; Safraaz Khan; George Hallaq and Nada Hallaq; and Future Developers International (Guyana) Inc.

AGREEMENT OF SALE The Agreement of Sale, which was signed by each of those who had received land in the afore-mentioned area, had three clauses, listed ‘A’ to ‘C’, attached to it. Clause ‘A’ stipulated: “The building shall be erected on the lots within six months of the signing of the transfer.” According to Clause ‘B’: “Upon failure by the transferees to erect the building within the aforesaid six months, the transferee shall be bound to re-convey the said land to the CH&PA (Central Housing and Planning Authority) at the same price it was sold, subject to the transferee being reimbursed with a reasonable sum for any development work undertaken during such period.” And under Clause ‘C’: “The transferee shall not be at liberty to sell, lease, transfer or part with possession of the said property within 10 years of transfer, without the written consent of the Minister responsible for housing.” Former Ministers Manickchand and Persaud have reportedly since transferred and sold their acquisitions without the mandatory consent of the CH&PA, which, in essence, constitutes a breach of Clause ‘C’ of the Agreement. In Manickchand’s case, she sold hers to one Dave Narine for a whopping G$100M on February 21, 2013, a mere three years after the purchase of the said land. Robert Persaud first put his into the names of his wife, Kamini Persaud, and his two children (names provided). That transaction was done on September 18, 2014. He then sold it to a firm named ‘LRS’ for G$90M, also without written permission from the CH&PA. In a document sent by the Attorney General and seen by the Guyana Chronicle, it was pointed out that two of the six former government officials facing “misconduct in public office” charges were in clear violation of the terms and conditions of their land acquisition, which saw them raking in just under US$1M, collectively.

INFLUENCE It is said that the reason it is being recommended that they be charged is because of the way in which they went about acquiring the land; by using their considerable clout to facilitate the transfer and sale of said lands which they themselves were able to acquire below market price, and subsequently selling them for exorbitant sums. According to the document now with the Attorney General, “In 2010, a decision was made by the Cabinet authorising NICIL to privatise State lands, a decision which is now being considered to have been done without any authorisation and approval from the relevant bodies.” The document goes on to say that the lands were sold to former ministers and known friends and associates of the previous regime, and that at the time the sales were facilitated, the lands were grossly undervalued and subsequently sold lower than the market value, thus depriving and denying the State of its full benefits. It says further that the actions of the former Cabinet ministers clearly show that they wilfully neglected to perform their duties, without reasonable excuse and or justification, to such an extent that it amounted to an abuse of public trust while in office. Not done there, the report says the ministers at reference knew what they were doing was wrong, but went ahead nevertheless, transferring State lands into their names and that of their acquaintances for undervalued market prices, reportedly at $114/per square foot at the time. In arriving at its decision, the report states: “It is respectfully submitted that the former ministers could be held liable for misconduct in public office, and in the absence of any Sate Assets Recovery Agency legislation, the Attorney General may institute proceedings against the former ministers. “The former ministers should not benefit from their acts of misconduct while being holders of public office. A strong message must be sent to the offenders and potential offenders.”