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Guyana pays more than $188M annually to rent building for UN office
By Renay Sambach
Kaieteur News – More than $188 million is spent annually by government to rent a building to accommodate the United Nations (UN) office in Guyana, which is located at 107-108 Duke Street, Kingston, Georgetown.
The front of the building which cost taxpayers’ more than $188M yearly to rent.
Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill.
An image of a milling machine.
The revelation was made on Tuesday in the National Assembly during the ongoing consideration of the 2022 estimates of revenue and expenditure. Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, was faced with several questions from the Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) David Patterson and Annette Ferguson.
The issue was brought up after MP Ferguson questioned the Minister on buildings that are currently being rented and the locations. In response Edghill said, “You would recall this is a matter that came up for public discourse and contention while we sat in the opposition benches.”
He then noted that it was the two Opposition MPs who signed a contract with, “a distinguished Guyanese gentleman for a rental of a house to facilitate the UN offices.” To this end the Public Works Minister stated that “every quarter, taxpayers of Guyana pay US$235,576 (GYD$47,115,200) because of the said contract.”
“This is just one building and this is the quarterly rent, US$235,576, four times every year, at the exchange rate of G$200,” he added.
After expressing his dissatisfaction with the contract that the PPP administration inherited from the APNU+AFC, he disclosed that even if the government wants to terminate the contract with the owner of the building, due to the contractual agreement the previous administration signed onto, the government would have to pay the owner $188,460,800, which is equivalent to one year in rent.
The Minister added that the Government of Guyana (GoG), as a State party, has a responsibility to host UN agencies in Guyana. He highlighted that these agencies were first hosted at different locations. However, according to him, that was later changed and now the government is paying more for less.
Opposition MP Patterson then took the floor to question if Minister Edghill was aware that the UN is the one that selected the building through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of that, but what I am aware of, is that if we had invested US$5 million which is G$1 billion that we have already paid to the owner of the building, we would have had a facility which we would have hosted the UN offices comfortably on a plot of land that would have been owned by the state,” Edghill responded.
To this end, he stated that if the government continues to pay the rental fee for the building for 10 years it would cost an additional G$2 billion.
He posited that while the UN would list the criteria that they are looking for, the State has the responsibility to select the building in the context of what the State can afford.
Edghill went on to express his appreciation to the UN agencies that are working in Guyana and noted that the government will work assiduously to ensure that they are properly housed in an energy efficient, cost effective facility where they can all be comfortable.
Moreover, during his presentation, Minister Edghill noted that his Ministry will be purchasing a milling machine to advance its work since it has been renting one from the private sector for $2,400 per square foot.
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