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More explosive revelations…Housing Minister’s husband used CH&PA staffers to witness private contract-one of them is his nephew
The sub-contract between Godfrey Yearwood and Desmond Murphy, signed by CH&PA staffers.
Hours after Minister of Housing, Valerie Adams-Yearwood released a statement challenging claims of a conflict of interest with her husband at the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), there are shocking details emerging that raise even more questions.
The Minister came under public scrutiny two weeks ago after Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, reported that contracts were issued to the Minister’s husband, Godfrey Yearwood, by CH&PA – the agency over which she presides.
After days of public pressure, Minister Adams-Yearwood denied any input, claiming that she does not preside over the bidding and awarding process at CH&PA.
The Minister and Godfrey Yearwood married in August 2017 and a few months later, he was awarded contracts to build a number of turn-key homes for CH&PA.
However, the minister claimed, in her statement on Monday, that she learnt of the awards only after he told her.
The Housing Minister and Godfrey Yearwood married in August 2017.
Further, when a 2017 press release from Government surfaced, stating that the Minister “presided” over the awarding of contracts – contrary to the claim by the Minister that she does not – she claimed Monday that her presence at the event was purely ceremonial.
But it isn’t just the Minister who is related to Godfrey Yearwood.
This publication saw documents that suggest that staffers at CH&PA were very familiar with the Minister’s husband.
In fact one of them, Troy Marks, the Clerk of Works at CH&PA, is said to be a nephew of the Minister’s husband.
According to a private contract, Yearwood in January 2018 sub-contracted a number of houses to one Desmond Murphy.
Marks, and Elizabeth Simeon, a Secretary at CH&PA, both signed as witnesses to that January 2018 private contract.
That is a clear no-no as CH&PA is the agency that in the first place issued the contracts to Yearwood.
Chief Executive Officer at the CH&PA, Lelon Saul, had said that if a contractor is the husband of the Minister, there exists a conflict of interest.
It is unclear whether he knew that Marks is related to Yearwood as well.
It is a clear no-no for the two CH&PA staffers to sign as witnesses to a private contract for the husband of the Minister of Housing.
That private contract, dated January 18, 2018, was made for the construction of 11 concrete, single-storey houses at Perseverance, East Bank Demerara, to the tune of $10.5M.
Desmond Murphy, the sub-contractor had accused Godfrey Yearwood of withholding the payment from him after he had completed the works.
It is Murphy’s claim of non-payment from Yearwood that has now opened this can of worms.
In her statement, Minister Valerie Adams-Yearwood said that Murphy, engaged for six weeks, did substandard work, which was rejected by CHPA.
She also said that several materials, which were purchased by Mr. Murphy, could not be accounted for. She said that the “defective works” had to be corrected by Godfrey Yearwood. He consequently retained the finances, and so, Murphy was not paid for his work.
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