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Businessman in Peter’s Hall land giveaway scandal denies any wrongdoing, claims “I am caught in a political battle”
A-Z Pharmaceutical Medical Supplies and Equipment Inc. Director and Secretary, Eddie Doolal
Kaieteur News – After being arrested for questioning in relation to the Peter’s Hall land giveaway investigations, businessman Eddie Doolal, has claimed innocence and says that he is merely “caught up in a political battle.”
Doolal, Director and Secretary of A-Z Pharmaceutical Medical Supplies and Equipment Inc., is one of two businessmen who had received state lands situated at Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara from the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and who both later transferred the lands to Chinese national, Jianfen Yu for G$100.
In a statement issued yesterday however, the businessman “categorically denied” being involved in any arrangement or “conspiracy to defraud the state.”
“My transaction was above board, and was sanctioned by NICIL,” Doolal claimed, adding that, “The proceeds arising out of this arrangement were not meant to be used for personal gain but to develop the remaining plot of land so that the company could develop its business.”
“My constraint from giving full information is that the matter is presently being investigated by the police and I wish not to jeopardize their investigation. I have cooperated fully with the police and provided adequate information including documents regarding the lease, the sale and assignment,” the statement said.
Doolal explained that he was caught in the middle of a “political situation” and asked that politicians exclude him from their “political battle.” While his statement claims innocence, it left unanswered many questions regarding the specific details of how the lands were acquired and transferred.
When news of the transactions broke, Kaieteur News had discovered several glaring similarities being Doolal’s transaction with Yu and that of the other businessman, Avalon Jagnandan of Life 1 Pharms Inc.
Both companies were registered on March 1, 2017 and in addition, the lease agreement details for both companies are also identical – both agreed to pay US$11,700 plus tax in lease fees annually for a 20-year period, both received 15 acres in total and both agreements were signed on the same day, May 17, 2018.
It should be noted too that both companies transferred its lands to the same individual, on the same day – January 28, 2020 and for the same price of G$100. Further, both Deeds of Assignment of Lease Agreements are also identical.
Guyana’s State Lands Act clearly stipulates that whenever State lands are leased, the lease agreement must indicate that the lessee “SHALL NOT” part with lands (possession) or “SHALL NOT” assign the interest in the said agreement without the consent of the State.
It states too, that in the event that there is going to be a transfer to a third party, the State reserves the right to step in and repossess the lands, reverting ownership back to the State.
However, that very clause was altered in the lease agreements currently at the center of investigations. The leases were altered to say that “the lessee may divest the land, may part with possession, may assign it to a third-party interest” – an insertion that saw hundreds of acres prime lands being resold and transferred with the State acquiring zero revenue from the transactions.
Kaieteur News posed several questions in relation to those issues to the businessman, but was told “This matter is not supposed to be a public matter. I do not understand how it became a public matter. This is a private matter between the company, NICIL, and whoever the company utilized for the transaction. This is
not meant to be a public matter and if I put my information out there like that, then it will be a rebuttal and an ongoing process continuously.”
The businessman told Kaieteur News, “I can assure that this entire information, after having being arrested, I gave the police all the information, which they already had.”
As investigations continue, police are attempting to locate Yu whose address is listed as 43 Wellington Street, Georgetown. This paper, however, understands that the man is currently in China.
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