Edghill says Govt to explore more cost-effective accommodation for UN offices in Guyana

Aug 19, 2022 News

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Kaieteur News – Under the leadership of President Irfaan Ali, the Government of Guyana will be exploring a more cost-effective route to accommodate the United Nations (UN) offices here, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill has said.

This comes weeks after Edghill first revealed that the former A Partnership for National Unity Alliance for Change Government (APNU+AFC) had tied government to a 10-year lease contract at $188 million annually to rent the Duke Street Kingston property owned by Guyanese singer Eddie Grant.

Edghill had condemned the former administration saying that State funds could have been used more wisely.  But Patterson and Edghill seem have engaged in a war of words over the issue. While Patterson claimed that the government had secured a good deal with the rental as it included the payment for electricity and other amenities, Edghill says the lease agreement disproves this.

In a letter to the editor, Edghill pointed to sections of the lease agreement which he said disproves inferences by Patterson which suggest the Government got a good deal when this was not the case. He explained that while the Government rented the building for that amount, the United Nations Programme an organization with presence in the Republic of Guyana as part of the United Nations system, also played a role in paying the electricity and utilities for occupying that premise.

“So in actuality, the government signed an agreement to pay over $188M just for the occupancy of the building and the UN has to pay for electricity and utilities which means, it costs more for the offices to operate out of the premises,” Edghill said.

“Citizens, it can also be confirmed and verified that the UN in Guyana has been paying all utilities and security, and all charges as it relates to their obligations in the contract…” the Minister added in his letter. In his letter, the Minister went to highlight sections of the lease agreement which were later seen by this newspaper.

The Minister noted that while Patterson pointed to parts of the tenancy which state that landlord is responsible for certain maintenance, there are a number of sections which show that the tenants have major responsibilities which are not included in the cost for rent.

“While the said (Article 8) in fact states that the Landlord shall, during the term of the Lease, be responsible for all major repairs to the structure of the building, Article 9, states that the Tenant is also responsible,” Edghill said.

He noted that Mr. Patterson’s statement that “Included in this fee were water rates, rates and taxes, security from (6:00 AM to 6:00 PM) on working days, maintenance of landscaping, car parking, grounds, and other associated external structures, suggests that was the end all.”

Quoting other sections of the agreement, Edghill continued: “however, I draw your attention to Article 12 of the Government of Guyana agreement, which states, ‘Water, Electricity, Security, and Utility…The tenant shall pay directly all sums due during the term of this lease in respect to his consumption of electricity and all utilities consumed or benefitted from the utility company or its agent.”

According to Edghill, all these are responsibilities that are on the tenant which is in this instance, UN, has the responsibility. He stressed therefore that Patterson’s claim that this was a good deal is false. “The Government is paying over $188M annually for the rent alone while the UN is taking care of electricity and other responsibilities can never be a good deal… it means more is being spent to accommodate the offices,” Edghill said adding that the PPP/C administrative will find a more cost effective solution to housing the UN Offices here.

Meanwhile, when contacted Patterson maintained that the rental of building was the best the Government could have done given the circumstances. “We were paying for the building that the UN representatives here selected themselves and they took on the cost for electricity, other utilities and so forth… It could have worked out to more if we had to pay all the other costs for accommodation,” he explained.

The Former Minister had explained that when the agreement was signed there were at least seven UN agencies operating in Guyana but they were all housed in various facilities.

Patterson noted that the Government of Guyana (GoG) had to start looking for alternative space to collectively house the UN offices.  He claimed that with the agreement was therefore reached to have the UN offices housed at the Duke Street facilities.

He claimed…“The GoG was able to reclaim three buildings, which were allocated to other ministries (former UNDP offices including one which now house the Department of Energy), and be relieved of the responsibility for payments for security, electricity, maintenance, etc. for the other locations, which amounted to almost US$700,000 per annum.” “At the time, it was estimated that an additional US$500,000 per annum would be saved, due to the reallocation of the reclaimed buildings,” he said.

 

 

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