Latest update November 23rd, 2024 12:15 AM
Absentee PNC executive, co-owner of controversial D’Urban Park company given $1/2M monthly salary for mystery job
Director of Public Works, Mr. Larry London
Larry London, once listed as co-owner of the controversial Homestretch Development Inc, the company behind the Durban Project, was given a mystery job by the Granger administration, according to Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall.
During an interview on the National Communications Network programme ‘Government in Focus’, was addressing the issue of political appointments made by the coalition government during their time in office.
“You have some jobs, I have never heard about” Nandlall told NCN Editor-in-Chief Leeron Brummell, adding that one such position was a designation listed as “Director of Public Parks”.
According to the AG, the occupant of the post was in receipt of a net salary of $500,000 monthly along with additional perks being footed by the state, including home security services, a personal driver and car, as well as duty free allowances and a 22 ½ % gratuity twice yearly despite the fact that the person rarely resided in Guyana.
“This is a guy when I find out, is hardly ever in Guyana but he is the ‘Director of Public Parks’. What is that? And you have hundreds of those creations over the ministries, in Office of the President, in every ministry, you have a whole set of them,” Nandlall added.
While Nandlall did not directly name the person referred to in the interview, Kaieteur News was reliably informed that the position was occupied by Larry London, an executive member of the People National Congress/Reform. London was listed as part owner of Homestretch Development Inc (HDI), a single-purpose company created and engaged by the coalition government to overlook the controversial D’Urban Park Project in 2016.
The company was supposedly formed to expedite the building of the stadium-like structure in time for the 50th Independence Anniversary celebrations but was quickly mired in controversy because of the expenditure of over one billion dollars, with the government of Guyana eventually assuming a liability of hundreds of millions of debt owed by HDI to contractors. As of January of this year, an Audit Office probe into the company, launched in 2017, was yet to be completed, with HDI having since folded.
During his interview, Nandlall also noted that there are a number of other political appointments that the government will be addressing frontally.
The AG further explained that these “sinecure appointments” can be seen scattered across the public sector by the dozens and will “necessarily have to be terminated” since they placed a “bloat on the public sector wage bill”.
Nandlall stated that during the new week, the current administration will be releasing the details of dozens of contracts of political appointees and that ministers will be holding press conferences concerning the matter.
“Then you will see the raw deal the people got from the previous administration,” he added.
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