Pradoville 11 Scandal…AG Chambers gathering evidence against Jagdeo, fmr. Ministers

OCTOBER 29, 2015 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER NEWS

The Attorney General Chambers is still in the process of gathering evidence in the matter related to a 15-acre tract of land at Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara. The land was transformed into a posh residential community where the lots were sold to several former Ministers of Government and other high level officials, including the former President, Bharrat Jagdeo.

Former President, Bharrat Jagdeo

Attorney General, Basil Williams, yesterday provided an update in the matter which has since attracted the attention of the Court through civil litigation that was brought against a number of those given house-lots by former A Partnership for National Unity Member of Parliament (MP) Desmond Trotman. Williams was asked to give an update as he held a media briefing at his Chambers yesterday. He told media operatives, “We have to get the requisite evidence from the unit that sent it over.” He was making reference to the recommendations by the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) which had called for charges to be laid against those involved in the transaction. Infamously referred to as Pradoville II, Williams said that as long as evidence can be found to substantiate civil action, then there is basis for criminal action, “which is swifter.” He pointed too to the state of affairs over at Red House, which was leased by the former People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Administration to itself and said as long as civil wrongdoing can be ascertained then that lays the basis for criminal action. According to Williams, the Sparendaam lands now referred to as Pradoville II were not sold to the former Ministers among others, on an as is, where is basis. The former administration, he recalled expended huge sums of monies to prepare the land before it was sold the selected persons. “Millions of dollars was spent on that land to bring it up to a standard,” before it was “given” to the former Government Officials. He drew reference too, to the actual ownership of the land and pointed to the school of thought which suggests that the land was in fact Communal Lands owned by the people of Sparendaam/Plaisance. “So how was it just reduced into the custody of government for those kinds of machinations,” said Williams. He questioned whether the former PPP administration did not have the requisite foresight to realize that the transaction would have landed it into trouble. SARU had conducted an investigation into the transactions surrounding the Pradoville II transactions and reported that in 2010, the Bharrat Jagdeo Cabinet made a decision authorizing the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) to privatize state lands. NICIL is the body tasked with overseeing the privatization of state assets. It reportedly spent more than $200M to develop the seaside community without the knowledge and blessings of the National Assembly and other relevant bodies. The said lands were then secretly sold to the former ministers and known friends and associates of the previous regime. At the time of the sale, the report said, the lands were grossly undervalued and sold substantially lower than the market value for the land thereby depriving the state of its full benefits. Jagdeo himself paid only $9.8M, giving himself two acres of lands that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean. SARU has since argued that the former Ministers could be held liable for misconduct in public office and in the absence of legislation for the unit, that the Attorney General, Basil Williams, may institute proceedings against the former Ministers. The unit said that the actions of the former cabinet Ministers have shown that they willfully neglected to perform their duties without reasonable excuse or justification to such an extent that it amounted to an abuse of the public trust in the office holders, hence its belief that criminal charges are indeed warranted. Providing a brief history of the nature of the Pradoville Two deal, SARU reported that Tract A of Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara was once deemed as Communal Lands, thereafter owned by Demerara Sugar Estates prior to independence. After independence in 1966, it said that this plot of land was owned by the State of Guyana. The land remained state lands until 2010 when the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) privatized the land and sold it to the former Ministers and associates of the former regime. SARU said, “There is a direct link between the misconduct and the abuse, of powers and duties of their position. The former Cabinet members knew they were doing a wrong in transferring state lands into their names and that of their acquaintances for undervalued market prices for the land. The lands were sold for $114 per square foot at the time.” The Pradoville transaction had drawn widespread criticisms from the public after the details came to light. While Jagdeo and other beneficiaries paid $114 per square foot for the lands, ordinary Guyanese were made to $317 by CH&PA. Remigrants, who were encouraged to come back and live in Guyana, paid more than ten times the price Jagdeo paid for the same size house lot. They paid $1,111 per square foot.