Pradoville 2 ‘power house’…GPL shares cost of Jagdeo mansion transformers

Aug 19, 2015 News

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 “Three transformers attached to a private residence is normally associated with upscale living. The ordinary man can’t afford that kind of luxury.”  – GPL official

While former President, Bharrat Jagdeo, has said that he does not know anything about transformers outside his mansion at Pradoville Two, a Guyana Power and Light (GPL) official yesterday confirmed that it is indeed true.
“Mr. Jagdeo’s home is indeed being powered by three transformers. The transformers are mounted on a lantern post just outside the mansion in Pradoville 2.”
He explained that the transformers are being used because of the type of power supply required. “He has a three-phase supply which includes three 25kva transformers while all other persons in the area are using a single phase 120-240 volts transformer.”
Explaining further, the official said that “this type of load is a more reliable type of supply that is personal and was requested based on the former President’s lifestyle.”
Asked about what kind of appliances the former President may be using to require three transformers, the official said it includes a central air conditioning system.
There are not many private citizens or Guyanese who will have three transformers running to a home. More so where the state is paying for the power used.
The acquisition and installation of the transformers is determined through an arrangement with the consumer and the GPL.
How much, if any, Jagdeo paid for those transformers was not immediately clear yesterday.
But one thing is obvious: there is no other former minister or government official who benefits from such a service in the Pradoville Two area.

“Three transformers attached to a private residence is normally associated with upscale living. The ordinary man can’t afford that kind of luxury” the GPL official confirmed.
In the case of the former president, information is not available as to who paid and who is paying for the transformers, but Jagdeo did confirm that “in the last two months when we paid our electricity bill, the bill has come down by almost half without any change in policy or use.”
The transformers are among several other issues being investigated by the new administration.
The area, located at Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara and overlooking the Atlantic Ocean is prime seaside lands that was taken over and allocated to several top Government officials and close friends during Jagdeo’s last term that ended in 2011.
State resources were reportedly used to build drainage and other structures, and the land was sold way below market value, as compared to what normal citizens were paying for Government house lots.
The land was sold subject to a Cabinet decision. The state-owned NICIL/Privatisation Unit was authorized to oversee the development of the land without any significant input from the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), the state-controlled body that oversees housing development.
Regarding issues of whether the recipients, including Jagdeo and former Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee, were owners of properties at the time of the sale, Government has disclosed that initial indications are that CH&PA seemed not to have been in the loop, as the paperwork is not there.
It has been revealed that to accommodate the special housing scheme, the Jagdeo administration used state funds to pay more than $100M to remove a transmission tower from the Pradoville Two land, to the West Demerara area.
There was no evidence that the house lots sale was advertised or what procedures were used in the allocations of the parcels of the ocean-front properties.
Jagdeo himself, according to details of allocations, received two parcels equivalent to two acres.
On it, he built an imposing mansion, complete with pool and overlooking the seawall and the Atlantic Ocean.
He paid a total of $9.8M. He had owned a property along the Ogle Airport Road in the community that was known as ‘Pradoville One’. However, he sold that property to Trinidadian advertising executive, Ernie Ross.
In effect, Jagdeo paid three times less than what ordinary citizens in the Diamond and Grove Housing Schemes, East Bank Demerara, would have been required to fork out.
Jagdeo’s payment for the Pradoville Two parcels translated to $5M per acre which works out at $114 per square foot; the ordinary man pays $317 per square foot for his plot.
Other beneficiaries included Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack; former Head of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Ramesh Dookhoo; former Ministers Clement Rohee, Priya Manickchand, Robert Persaud and even former Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon.

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