‘Fly-by-night’ company linked to Pres. Ali’s brother gets $3.9B in contracts in five days …$12.3B over following years, opposition alleges

Aug 18, 2026 News

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…company says Ali is only a senior technical consultant

(Kaieteur News) – Leader of the Opposition Azruddin Mohamed has criticised Sigma Engineers Ltd Inc., alleging the firm received $3.697 billion in government contracts just five days after its local registration, accumulating over $12.3 billion in State awards over subsequent years.

Pointing to corporate ties involving President Irfaan Ali’s brother, Mohamed Aqtar Ali, Mohamed called on state oversight agencies to launch immediate financial investigations. However, Sigma Engineers Ltd Inc. has rejected the accusations as serious misrepresentations, asserting its parent company has operated internationally since 2003, its first local contract was awarded through competitive bidding in 2026 via NPTAB, and that it has retained legal counsel to take action against the Opposition Leader.

The company stated that it was not established five days prior to receiving a government contract, explaining that its parent organisation, Sigma Engineers Ltd, has been incorporated and actively operating in Bangladesh since 2003. Addressing its local timeline, the firm stated that while it registered in Guyana on October 6, 2022, its first local contract was awarded in 2026 following a national competitive bidding process conducted through NPTAB. Regarding the President’s brother, the company stated that Mohamed Aqtar Ali is engaged strictly in a senior technical consultant capacity in Guyana and holds no affiliation with the parent company in Bangladesh.

Allegations of rapid awards and State House access

Meanwhile, speaking during a video posted on his Team Mohamed’s Facebook page, Mohamed declared, “This is what corruption looks like under the PPP. Fellow Guyanese, we thought we had seen it all. We were wrong because what we’re about to put to the people of Guyana include the issues of political access, government contracts, and the use of State resources to an entirely different level.”

Mohamed claimed that the company’s rapid growth was directly tied to the President’s family network, alleging that Mohamed Aqtar Ali returned to Guyana from Canada “to benefit off of the trillion-dollar budgets” after his brother took office. “Sigma Engineers Limited was incorporated on October 6, 2022. This is Aqtar’s company being fronted for him by his close friend, Tamjeed Rahmaan, a Bangladeshi-Canadian,” Mohamed asserted, noting that corporate documents identify Rahmaan as incorporator, director, and secretary using a commercial address in North Cummingsburg.

Focusing on the immediate aftermath of the incorporation, Mohamed questioned the speed of the initial tender decisions, “How does a newly incorporated company move from being a newly registered entity to receiving billions of dollars in government contracts in five working days? Sigma Engineers was registered on October 6, 2022. Within days, three government contracts, totaling approximately $3,697,000,000 were awarded. Five working days, a company is registered and multi-billion-dollar contracts follow. Is that coincidence?”

Beyond the procurement pipeline, Mohamed raised further concerns regarding political access and local land allocation, alleging that Aqtar Ali is residing at State House and operating with unusual influence among staff. He also pointed to community disruptions in Eccles, claiming local ground space was made available for a company storage bond while ordinary residents elsewhere face land scarcity “part of the community ground in Eccles was made available to Sigma Engineers for the construction of a bond”.

Calling on the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to intervene, Mohamed urged State authorities to trace the tender approvals, “Follow the contracts. Follow the procurement process. Follow the money. Examine the bids… We have to move from highlighting to acting.”

Timeline of contracts

According to documents cited by the Opposition Leader and seen by this publication, the three initial awards granted within five working days of registration on October 6, 2022, totaled $3,697,000,000. These comprised a $687,000,000 contract for works at an existing facility at Caledonia, a $1,304,000,000 award for a new water treatment plant at Cummings Lodge, and a $1,647,000,000 contract for a new facility at Bachelor’s Adventure.

The financial volume expanded in subsequent years as the firm continued to capture major water infrastructure projects: February 2024, Sigma received an additional $254,000,000 contract for expansion works at the Bachelors Adventure site. By late October 2024, the company secured $1,486,000,000 for two water treatment plants at Wakenaam and Leguan. One month later, on November 29, 2024, Sigma landed a $3,569,000,000 contract for the Hope Water Treatment Facility.

 

Late-stage infrastructure allocations continued on December 31, 2025, when the company was awarded a $2,439,000,000 contract for the rehabilitation of the shelter belt at Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) Headquarters, a transaction Mohamed criticised as being processed late on “Old Years Night” through the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board. The firm also secured several well-drilling contracts across Demerara and Berbice:

On May 20, 2025, Sigma was awarded $411,000,000 for drilling four wells across Melanie, Friendship, Westminster, and GWI Headquarters. A year later, on May 7, 2026, the company captured two awards on the same day: a $153,000,000 contract for a well at Port Mourant and a $129,000,000 contract at Garden of Eden. On May 20, 2026, two additional contracts were granted simultaneously, comprising $124,000,000 for a well at Shirley Field Ridley and $124,000,000 for a well at Better Hope on the East Coast of Demerara, alongside subsequent work at Goedverwagting.  Together, these individual line items account for the cumulative $12,386,000,000 figure outlined by the Opposition. Mohamed argued that engineers have reported markups between 70% and 100% on some projects, stating, “The money being spent to construct one water treatment plant or well could construct two.”

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• Irfaan Ali, Mohamed Aqtar Ali, senior technical consultant, Sigma Engineers Ltd Inc.

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