A proven, greedy inclination for gifting away state assets to friends and cronies

May 03, 2015 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
For the benefit of the doubting Thomases, naysayers and soup drinkers who adopt the Jagdeo refrain of “show me the evidence”, I refer them to consider the following facts which are irrefutable and establish beyond the shadow of doubt, that Jagdeo and his Government by devious and unlawful machinations, violated Articles 216 and 217 of the Constitution and sections 37 and 38 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act 1993 (FMA):
1. Jagdeo and the PPP Government do not believe in democratic principles, the Rule of Law or obedience to the Constitution or to transparency and accountability. Jagdeo took a deliberate decision to contravene the democratic principles enshrined in the constitution and function as a Kleptocracy to empower and enrich himself and a certain group of his known friends and cronies, and at the same time to marginalise and impoverish the rest of the citizens of the country.
2. An important part of the Jagdeo Government’s plan was not to appoint a “procurement commission”, mandated by Article 212¬W of the Constitution which gave the Government control over the award of Government contracts. Jagdeo and his friends and cronies such as Bobby Ramroop were the exclusive beneficiaries of the Government’s unconstitutional scheme. Bobby Ramroop in particular was given exclusive contracts annually to supply Pharmaceuticals to the Georgetown Hospital worth several billions of dollars.
3. Next, Jagdeo decided that contracts which would require billions of dollars to perform such as Amaila Falls, Marriott Hotel and the Specialty Hospital, would not be submitted to Parliament for approval in as much as they would require Parliamentary oversight and authorization by Parliament to take funds out of the consolidated fund.
4. The Minister of Finance and Jagdeo, knew that our constitution provided that all revenues of the state must be paid into the consolidated fund and secondly, no money can be taken out of the consolidated fund without the authorization of Parliament.
5. To avoid approval and oversight by Parliament, Jagdeo made two decisions to avoid Parliamentary oversight, both of them unconstitutional and unlawful. They both required the participation of the Minister of Finance, firstly, to direct the heads of Government Corporations like Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and the CEO’s of Government Companies to pay over to NICIL all monies collected by them for the state.
The second decision required the Minister of Finance, who is the Chairman of NICIL, to direct the CEO of NICIL, Winston Brassington, to take possession of all the said monies collected from GGMC, GFC, Government contractors and Government companies and deposit same into NICIL’s Bank account.
The Minister of Finance also authorized NICIL to collect and deposit into NICIL’s Bank account, monies generated from the sale of state lands and other state assets such as the sale of the 20% Government shares in GT&T for the sum of US$30 Million dollars.
6. The diversion of billions of dollars of state funds into the bank account of NICIL, which should be paid into the consolidated fund is unlawful and unconstitutional.
7. It was this nefarious scheme by which US$58M dollars of state funds was used to Finance the Marriott Hotel Development without Parliamentary approval or oversight. That is how the PPP intended to finance “billion dollar projects” without Parliamentary approval, oversight and financing.
8. NICIL operated as a sub-treasury where billions of dollars belonging to the state were deposited and kept in NICIL’s account with a commercial Bank or Banks. Moneys were withdrawn only by Brassington to finance the construction of the Marriott Hotel project. Those monies belonged to the people of Guyana and should have been paid into the consolidated fund.
9. The Ramotar Government is no different from the Jagdeo Government when it comes to gifting away state assets to friends and cronies in violation of the Constitution.
A few days before the elections on the 11th May, 2015, the Ramotar Government granted to E-Networks clearance to land its own fibre optic cable in Guyana. E-Networks is owned and operated by a PPP member, Vishok Persaud. There was no invitation to the public.
Further, the Government a few days before the elections, entered into a contract with DAX, a company incorporated in Guyana, with a seven million Guyana dollars share capital and will be the beneficiary of a 40-year monopoly licence and use of the cable and every aspect of the US$100 Million ICT project. No invitation was made to the Public.
Can you in good faith trust a PPP Government to deal with state assets, having regard to their proven predatory penchant for gifting away state assets to their friends and cronies; their disregard for democratic principles, the Rule of Law, obedience to the constitution and for transparency and accountability?
F. Mohamed

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