28 acres of Providence lands parceled off to Ramroop’s Director

Mar 22, 2016 News

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As questions continue into the transactions of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), it appears that close friends of officials within the previous PPP/C administration were benefitting big time.
Some 28.80 acres of land in Providence went to Luxury Realty Inc., a company which lists Roopnarine Ravie Ramcharitar as the Director/Secretary.
Ramcharitar is one of the main faces and Directors within Queens Atlantic Investment Inc. (QAII), a company that is controlled by Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop.
Ramcharitar is a former Director of the Berbice River Bridge Company. He resigned last year after a clash with Government over reducing rates for the bridge.
On his Linkedin account, he is listed as the General Manager of New GPC, a company that had the right to supply billions of dollars of drugs, each year, for Government.
The transaction between Luxury Realty Inc. and CH&PA was inked on December 17, 2013, and was supposed to only build and sell homes.
In 2013, CH&PA was controlled by former Minister of Housing, Irfaan Ali, whose tenure is now marred by question marks hanging over several projects, including lands to private developers, the Remigrant Scheme and the 1,000 ‘turn-key’ homes at Providence, East Bank Demerara.
A new CH&PA Board of Directors has launched investigations into several transactions.
With a purchase price of $168M, Luxury was asked to pay just $58.8M (35 percent) upfront with the rest, $109.2M over a period– $42M when infrastructural works are completed, and the rest when the Certificate of Title is passed.
Luxury was mandated to use the scheme for residential purposes and for the sale of homes only.
Ramcharitar was supposed to complete all infrastructural works within eight months.
Like many other of the 20-odd developers to whom CH&PA and ex-Minister Ali also sold lands on the East Bank, Luxury has also failed to meet deadlines.
There is very little evidence of infrastructure works and activity.
The authority committed to conduct periodic inspections at the property to ensure infrastructure works are done in compliance with approved designs, drawings and specifications.
Failure of Luxury Realty to complete infrastructural works would have resulted in CH&PA stepping in to rescind the agreement of sale and purchase, and forfeit up to 10 percent of the deposit.
The agreement made it clear that Ramcharitar, as Director, had 24 months from the date of the agreement to complete the construction of all the homes and to have 100 percent occupancy.
Luxury was mandated to submit within one month of that December 2013 signing, the design layout of the proposed scheme.
Periodically, the company was required to submit other design plans and work programmes to the local NDCs.
Ramcharitar has breached almost all the timelines and other conditions as set out in the agreement.
Yet, CH&PA and its officials, including the Land Administration Division, failed to take steps that he either toe the line or to take back the lands as the agreement allowed.
Luxury’s transaction is not dissimilar to that of Queensway, a Water Street company controlled by Mohamed ‘Arafat’ Qualander.
Three days before the November 28, 2011 General Elections, CH&PA entered into an agreement with Savitrie Qualander, Mohamed ‘Arafat’ Qualander and Saudia Qualander, Principals of Queensway.
Mohamed Qualander is said to be a close friend of former President Donald Ramotar.
The agreement for Block 22A of Block Y, Golden Grove described the plot of land as being 35 acres,
The price was $18.375M or $525,000 per acre. Each acre could provide up to eight reasonably sized lots.
According to the agreement, the Qualanders were to pay $10M up front and the balance with the passing of the Transport.
The price would raise eyebrows as other developers were made to pay between $4M and $9M per acre, further north on East Bank Demerara, in the Providence and Herstelling areas.
There are no lands remaining on the East Bank Demerara for CH&PA to distribute to the more than 25,000 applicants on file.
Under the previous PPP/C administration, it appeared that thousands of acres of lands under the authority of CH&PA and former Minister of Housing, Irfaan Ali, were given away for little or nothing.
The lands that were sold under questionable arrangements to the private developers are all considered prime real estate, worth billions of dollars at the current market rate.
There have been numerous complaints of citizens waiting for years for house lots.
CH&PA and its new Board of Directors have been coming under fire to take back the lands.
Last October, government officials carried out a surprise inspection on several plots in control of the developers and found that works were way behind.

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