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Granger demitted office with $35M Lexus
– PNCR says that vehicle can be withdrawn at anytime
Kaieteur News – When former President David Granger demitted office in August, he took with him a $35M Lexus—a vehicle bought using the taxes of citizens and owned by the state.
Details of these and other pressing issues were shared by Vice President (VP), Bharrat Jagdeo, on Friday during a press engagement at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre (ACCC).
During the press engagement, the VP, himself a former president, articulated that: “When you look at the spending on vehicles under the APNU+AFC, it was enormous. Last year, they bought a vehicle for the former President David Granger for $35.2M. The best Land Cruiser is between $17M and $20M, depending on who you buy it from, with the best features inside, and they spend on a Lexis $35.2M. Guess where that is now? It is with Granger.”
However, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) sought to respond to Jagdeo’s statements, as they wrote in a statement yesterday that the former president is “entitled only to benefits and facilities which are in accordance with the ‘Former Presidents (Benefits and other Facilities) Act’. These include the provision of “…not more than two motor vehicles maintained by the state.”
The PNCR indicated that these conditions are identical to those provided to former presidents Samuel Hinds, Bharrat Jagdeo and Donald Ramotar.
“Mr. Granger was assigned a motor vehicle which remains part of a reserve fleet of state-owned motor cars. The fleet’s vehicles were used for the ceremonial inauguration convoy of President Irfaan Ali and state and official visits of President Akufo-Addo of Ghana; Prime Ministers Ralph Gonzalves, Keith Mitchell, Mia Mottley, Keith Rowley, and Roosevelt Skerritt of the Caribbean Community and some members of the delegation accompanying Secretary of State Michael Pompey of the USA, among others,” the statement read.
It went on to state that the vehicle to which VP Jagdeo referred to could have been assigned for Granger’s use, but only by the Office of the President (OP).
“It is the property of the Government of Guyana. It is not private property. It could be withdrawn at any time at the discretion and on the direction of the President and replaced with another in accordance with the ‘Former Presidents (Benefits and other Facilities) Act’”, the PNC wrote.
What is notable is that the APNU+AFC had slammed the PPP/C for budgeting $95M to repair and replace vehicles of the new ministers.
It was the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira who had claimed that the vehicles were returned in flawed and run-down state by the previous APNU+AFC government.
Teixeira indicated to the National Assembly’s Committee of Supply on the first day of the consideration of budget estimates that when the former ministers had returned their vehicles to the new government, it was observed that there were cracked windshields, ripped and stained seats, damaged radios and even different tires on the automobiles.
“We don’t know who did what,” Teixeira told the House, “so this money is to do some repairs and purchase new vehicles,” while further indicating that some damaged vehicles had to be “boarded up” because it would be too costly to repair or replace.
During her presentation the Minister could not disclose details of the types/models of the vehicles to be procured nor how much each would cost taxpayers. She maintained, however, that public tendering would be the method utilized to source the vehicles.
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