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Govt. and bandits robbing Guyanese alike; D’Urban Park is a grand example – Nandlall
– Urges contractors to sue govt.
While Guyanese have the street bandits and those who are breaking and entering their homes to
Opposition MP, Anil Nandlall
contend with, the government is adding to their misery. Guyanese are also being robbed by the very people who claim that they will uphold the rule of law.
That is the opinion of former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall. He said as much as he highlighted government’s stance on the monies owed to contractors for D’Urban Park.
Recently, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan announced that while Homestretch Development Inc.—the special purpose company set up for the D’Urban Park project—owes several contractors in excess of $750M, government will only be paying out $500M. The Minister said that contractors will not receive what is fully owed and they will have to “take it or leave it.”
Nandlall said that this is a disturbing stance to be taken by the government. He is encouraging contractors to sue the government.
The Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) said that Ministers of the APNU+AFC Government continue to exhibit a reprehensible aura of arrogance, bullyism and a “wrong and strong” approach in their public outpourings.
“The latest outburst has come from the Minister of Finance in relation to the over $750M owed to contractors and suppliers of materials for the Durban Park project. The Minister of Finance boldly asserts that the Government will pay only $500,000,000 and will not pay the outstanding $250,000,000.”
Nandlall also made reference to the fact that Minister Jordan offered the “take it or leave it” solution with an option for the aggrieved contractors to sue Homestretch Development Inc.—a company that has already been dissolved.
Nandlall noted that Homestretch Development Inc., as far as the public is aware, has no assets and no known capabilities to pay $250M.
The Opposition MP said that in a nutshell, the Minister of Finance “is telling these contractors that the Government has robbed or will rob them. This is the same Minister who in his budget speech only two weeks ago said that this Government is committed to the rule of law and will respect the constitutional and legal rights of the people of Guyana.”
Nandlall continued, “It is now clear that apart from being robbed every day by bandits, the Government has now signaled an intention to rob the Guyanese people, as well. This must be an unprecedented approach for a Government to take in the modern world.”
Nandlall said that the posture of the Minister of Finance comes on the heels of Minster Raphael Trotman’s statement that people need to stop lamenting about the heavy tax burdens imposed by the budget and should “get busy”; and the Government’s arrogant and outright rejection of an invitation to meet with the Private Sector Commission and the Labour Movement to discuss the 2017 budgetary measures.
Nandlall said that the exhibition of arrogance and intolerance must be strongly rejected.
“My advice to the persons who are owed the $250M is to sue the Government, the private company and its directors/shareholders, personally.”
He said that the “corporate veil” will not protect directors and shareholders who have “fraudulently and deceptively” withheld from the public that they were dealing with a private company, but in fact deliberately led them to believe that they were dealing with the Government of Guyana.
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