‘Silica City is Pradoville 3′ – Ram warns of exploding costs, lack of accountability

Jan 05, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – The Silica City housing project is shaping up to be “Pradoville Three in the making,” unfolding with little transparency, weak institutional oversight and a dangerous erosion of accountability, according to Chartered Accountant and Attorney-at-Law Christopher Ram.

Highlighting this troubling state of affairs in his most recent column published by Stabroek News Ram explained that while the public remains largely ignorant of the ongoing development, touted to benefit “young professionals” he has observed the dangerous repeat of patterns that were unearthed in the probe of Pradoville Two, constructed in Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara.

The new housing development, which Ram made the subject of his first column for 2026, is being built along Soesdyke Linden Highway. The attorney however pointed out that beyond the periodic, campaign-style announcements, the project operates in near-complete secrecy. “It is repeatedly celebrated as the President’s “brain-child”, yet the public has been told nothing of how it is financed, how it is structured within government, or by what criteria the beneficiaries of its house lots will be selected,” he argued.

The lawyer was keen to note that this pattern was maintained most recently as last week when the Minister of Housing, Collin Croal announced that agreements were signed and allocations of houses made, without accompanying disclosure of any legal authority, eligibility rules, pricing framework, or institutional approvals governing those allocations.

Ram is of the firm view that the silence is not accidental. He reasoned, “We have seen this movie before. The Sparendaam housing project – Pradoville 2 – did not unravel by accident. The investigation showed that it was financed through multiple state entities, with no single institution carrying the full cost and no consolidated accounting of the project. That fragmentation diluted responsibility, obscured the true cost, and prevented scrutiny until long after land was transferred and beneficiaries entrenched. By the time the full picture emerged, accountability was already lost – and no one was ever held responsible.”

Notably, a forensic audit later revealed how the absence of clear statutory footing, the bypassing of institutional processes, undisclosed allocation criteria, missing records, and political direction substituting for law, produced outcomes that benefited a select few, including the then President, Ministers, party figures, and carefully chosen beneficiaries.

The advocate believes that the current project is more troubling, as many of the same enabling conditions have re-emerged but on a far larger and more expensive scale. “Then, Dr. Ali operated as Housing Minister under a President. Now, he is the President. Then he reported to Cabinet. Now, Cabinet reports to him,” Ram warned.

Erosion of transparency

In presenting a detailed account of the safeguards that have been deliberately ignored, Ram noted that the administration of Silica City fall under the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), established under the Housing Act.

Although the agency was designed to prevent the opacity and looseness exposed by the Sparendaam investigation, Ram highlighted that a key tool required has been dispensed with by the CH&PA- Annual Reports- to the convenience of Silica City.

The Lawyer explained, “Annual Reports have disappeared. There is no identifiable public accounting for the project. The project does not appear in the National Estimates, nor is it identifiable in the financial statements of the CHPA or any other government authority. This is despite the vast sums being spent on infrastructure and construction.”

Further, he pointed out that the Housing Minister reports directly to the President which results in a flagship housing project executed by CHPA under direct political oversight, with diminished reporting and no transparent disclosure of financing, governance, or allocation criteria; all in an environment of an explosion of funds accompanied by an erosion of accountability.

Ram reminded readers that since the PPP/C returned to office in 2020, CHPA abandoned the comprehensive Annual Reports required by section 49 of the Housing Act. The agency has substituted bare audited financial statements that say nothing about projects, allocations, beneficiaries, or policy decisions.

As such, the advocate cautioned, “The stage was set: no meaningful statutory reporting. As a result, Silica City is rendered financially invisible to citizens and Parliament alike. This violation of the law shields the project from scrutiny while land is allocated, infrastructure constructed, and commitments locked in.”

The Audit Office did not escape the blistering pen of Ram, who called out the institution for failing to detect these issues. “The Audit Office of Guyana exists to ensure compliance not only with accounting standards, but with the laws governing public authorities. The absence of Annual Reports, and the complete invisibility of Silica City in CHPA’s published accounts, should have been explicitly flagged,” he argued.

Likewise, he roasted the Opposition members for their silence on the matter.  “When a statutory reporting framework collapses in plain sight, unnoticed by auditors and unchallenged by Parliament, accountability disappears, and lawful administration collapses,” Ram said.

Given his involvement in the investigation of the Sparendaam project, the Lawyer said he recognised the warning signs. “I fear that if this project is allowed to continue under existing conditions of opacity, avoidance of scrutiny, and deliberate invisibility, we will not later be wondering whether Silica City was Pradoville 3. We will already know the answer.”

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• accountability, housing, Pradoville, President Ali, Ram, Silica City

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