No evidence profit tax was paid

Apr 22, 2010 News

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– “giveaway” deal now under question

More controversy has erupted over the sale of a piece of land behind the Botanical Gardens to Presidential Advisor, Odinga Lumumba. Questions are now being asked on what grounds he received it.
Lumumba bought the land for $1.5M then resold it for $38M to a Florida businessman.
The sale of the piece of the land to Lumumba stemmed from a claim for a lucrative piece of property, located further south on Mandela Avenue, that is currently under the control of the Guyana Muslim Mission which has erected the Masjid Muhammad on the land and on which officials there are claiming rights since they were given the land by former President Forbes Burnham.
The Presidential Advisor, in the 1990s, had made a claim for the land but a court case and then meetings with top government officials saw the property, said to measure over 600 feet by 160 feet, being given to the Mission.
Government then reportedly offered Lumumba a deal for another piece of land, around three-quarters of an acre, behind the Botanical Gardens, immediately north of the Chinese Embassy The asking price was $1.5M.
Masjid take
During a press conference yesterday at the Masjid to clear the air, Imam Shaheed Uthman said that a group of Muslims had asked Burnham in the 1970s to farm the land. However, they never filed for official titles to the land.

The group started planting the land and eventually erected a structure on it.
In the late 1990s, attempts were made by Lumumba to claim the land, thus forcing the management to take court action.
Together with Central Islamic Organization of Guyana (CIOG), the matter was also brought to the attention of President Bharrat Jagdeo and Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon.
“We are grateful to President Jagdeo and Dr. Luncheon since they ordered an investigation and it was found we were on the land for long time.”
It was agreed that the Guyana Muslim Mission indeed had rights and was advised to start filing for prescriptive rights at the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission. This matter is still engaging the attention of the Commission, the Imam disclosed, and there are not likely to be any problems.
The Mission was able to agree to a $10M sale price to be paid over 10 years. This, Uthman stressed, is still being negotiated.
The Imam noted that he was not in a position to comment on any agreements the government made with the “honourable MP (Member of Parliament) Odinga” although there were indications that he would have been sold another piece of land for relinquishing his claim to the Masjid property.
The Imam, flanked by other officials of the Masjid, also accused Mayor Hamilton Green of being involved in the attempt to claim the property in the 1990’s since they probably saw a “loophole” and were speculating.
Lumumba explains
Earlier this week, Lumumba accused Stabroek News which broke the story, of carrying an “unmitigated vendetta against me to destroy not only my character but also my political career…I am a Member of Parliament, an Advisor to His Excellency, the President, and a Member of Cabinet…As a result, I am now forced to issue a response so that members of the public can hear my side of the story.”
He also referred to another controversial mining deal in which was the subject of articles by the newspaper and in which millions of dollars were paid for rights to a piece of hinterland property.
“It closely follows several articles published by the said newspaper in relation to a transaction between a mining company of which I am part, and a Canadian company. Both of these transactions are legal, transparent and in compliance with conventional business methods.”
According to Lumumba, in 2005, he was offered by the Government of Guyana a plot of land known as Tract C, Rear of the Botanical Gardens, Mandela Avenue, at a purchase price of approximately $2.5M.
“I accepted the said offer and purchased the said land…This process was initiated by an Attorney-at-Law employed with the Ministry of Legal Affairs who acted on behalf of the Government of Guyana…I have recently sold the said plot of land as I am entitled to do like every other owner of land, at market value.”
Lumumba added that under the People’s National Congress (PNC) government, he was allotted approximately 10,000 acres of land by lease for agricultural purposes at Manarabisi on the right bank of the Canje River, Berbice.
He added that shortly after the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration assumed office, “I was requested by then President, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, to relinquish approximately 4,000 acres of land to be made available to the cattle farmers in the area…By this time, I had already expended millions of dollars in surveying, engineering designs and feasibility studies for the cultivation of rice or sugar.”
Lumumba said that he “willingly agreed to give up the 4,000 acres of land on the sole condition that another plot of land be made available to me.”
The Presidential Advisor said that “in pursuance thereof, some time during 1994, Cabinet approved the sale of a parcel of land located next to the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School to me…However, before the allocation of this land was formalised, the Guyana Muslim Mission Limited filed an action against the Attorney General and the Commission of Lands and Surveys claiming that this plot of land was allocated to them by the late President Forbes Burnham.”
That case was “amicably” resolved by the government giving the said land to the Guyana Muslim Mission Limited, and promising Lumumba another plot of land somewhere to be identified.
He also called for the news entity to give equal prominence to the fact that “I have agreed to give up to GuySuCo and the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission the remaining land at Manarabisi on the right bank of the Canje River, Berbice, in order to facilitate GuySuCo’s diversification drive into the cattle industry without any form of compensation at this point in time.
I have relinquished to the State the rights to ten thousand (10,000) acres of land at Akawini in the Pomeroon Area which I had acquired under the People’s National Congress (PNC) government. I also relinquished to the State the right to develop a housing scheme in respect of that plot of land which now houses a housing area for members of the Joint Services which I had also acquired under the People’s National Congress (PNC) government.”
Critics
There has been several letters on the sale of the land behind the Botanical Gardens and yesterday an Editorial in Kaieteur News called for the Presidential Advisor to explain whether any taxes were paid and for more details.
“Neither Mr. Lumumba nor the government appears to understand that there is something inherently objectionable for a member of the Government to engage in private business activities – and egregiously so when the activities involve the property of the state.”
The Editorial said that there exists now a “situation of grievous conflict of interest.”
“This land transaction is not the first that this conflict of interest has been raised. Unfortunately, these standards are not applied in Guyana. And Mr. Lumumba is allowed to engage in all kinds of business activities at anything but arms length while he sits in Cabinet and advises the President.”
The Editorial also drew reference to recent incident in India where the Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor, was made to resign by the Prime Minister when it was exposed that in helping to secure a new IPL franchise for some businessmen, his close “friend” Ms. Sunada Pushkar received “sweat equity” in the franchise to the tune of millions of dollars.
“Even the implicit conflict of interest was too much for the Congress Party – in India, long regarded as a hotbed of official corruption.”

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