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EMPOWERING SARA
The State Asset Recovery Unit (SARU) is in the news again, not to report on another illegal activity it has unearthed, but for a draft Bill to change its name from SARU to SARA: State Asset Recovery Agency to make its operations more effective.
The Bill slated for the National Assembly in October will be introduced by the Attorney General to formally legalize SARA and give it more investigative powers to carry out its functions. Unlike SARU, which only had the power to recommend charges, SARA will be empowered to file criminal charges against those found culpable of alleged corrupt practices. The bill makes provisions for the appointment of a director and a deputy director to manage SARA.
The bill aims to recover illegally acquired state assets from public officers past and present through legal proceedings and in consonance with the United Nations Convention against Corruption. It will empower its director with the legal authority to access information and to strengthen SARA’s fight against corruption by public officials.The Bill stipulates the functions of SARA, including investigating whether state property was obtained through unlawful means by public officials or any other person. It will trace and identify state properties wherever situated and suspected to be obtained from unlawful conduct involving public officials or other persons.
It is a civil recovery and civil remedy bill, which essentially means it will go wherever the evidence leads it and will make no exemptions of persons, not even presidents, be they from this administration or previous ones.
SARU was established last year by the David Granger-led administration to retrieve properties believed to be stolen or acquired through illegal means by former government officials. Its small staff was very effective. It unearthed several illegal activities and recovered numerous stolen state assets, including cars and properties. Despite the findings by SARU, the government has been reluctant to prosecute those culpable of alleged corrupt transactions.
SARU’s greatest discovery occurred last October, when it reportedly secured evidence on the controversial sale of prime seafront lands at Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara to former President Bharrat Jagdeo and a number of ex-Ministers, friends and relatives of the former regime.
SARU reported that in 2010, the Jagdeo government authorized the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited, (NICIL) to privatize the state lands at Sparendaam known as Pradoville 2 and tasked it with overseeing the development of the land, which was kept as a secret. In the process, NICIL removed a transmitter tower which has been there for decades.
It was reported that NICIL spent more than $200M of taxpayers’ money to develop the seaside property without the approval of the National Assembly and other relevant bodies.The said lands were then secretly sold.
According to SARU at the time of the sale, the lands were grossly undervalued by NICIL and sold substantially below the market value, thereby depriving the state of its full financial benefits. The public was amazed to learn that the seafront properties were not open for ordinary citizens to purchase, only a select few.
It was the first case to have criminal charges recommended by SARU. The Director of Public Prosecutions recommended civil charges instead.
Given the nature of the land deal, SARU believed that it has a strong criminal case against those who bought the land at undervalued prices. To date, there is no indication as to whether the government will institute charges, despite having all the evidence provided by SARU. It is disheartening to the public that after more than a year in office, the government has not prosecuted anyone except for a former minister and her assistant. This is an unsatisfactory state of affairs. Maybe SARA will be empowered enough to deal with wrongdoing and suspect transactions more efficiently.
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