CH&PA had $8B in bank accounts but wanted GGMC $3B loan
Investigators probing a $3B attempted loan to the Central Housing and Planning Authority from the Guyana
Former Housing Minister, Irfaan Ali
Geology and Mines Commission (CH&PA) back in January are questioning the reasons for the transaction in the first place. This is because CH&PA’s bank accounts reportedly had a hefty $8B in them. This latest disclosure would raise startling questions over the previous administration’s handling of the country’s finances. The $3B loan would have caused the housing authority to pay interest of up to five percent. The transaction was made public by upset insiders of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the regulatory body charged with overseeing the mining sector, and shelved after objections and a court case. The fallouts had caused GGMC to pay lawyers at least $7M in fees to advise them about the legality of the transaction. The then opposition had accused the Government of wanting the monies to spend on its elections campaign. “That is why the people of Guyana want to know why the previous Government and the former housing Minister Irfaan Ali were so insistent on getting this loan. Based on the amount of money that CH&PA had in their accounts, it appears that there was no need…it just did not make sense,” a senior Government official
GGMC’s Chairman, Clinton Williams
said Friday. Back in January, the Donald Ramotar Cabinet of Ministers issued a directive to GGMC, ordering the body to process a loan to the CH&PA for housing projects. But a number of GGMC officials objected, arguing that it would not be legal and its monies were supposed to target developments in the mining sectors, not housing. After the transaction, which came to light in the midst of impending elections were objected to, legal advice was paid for. In March, the Cabinet came back with an amended request…the loan was really to boost housing for mining communities. CH&PA Director Ranwell Jordan and Opposition Parliamentarian, Desmond Trotman, took the matter to court with Chief Justice Ian Chang ruling that indeed the transaction would be illegal and should not go through. GGMC’s Chairman, Clinton Williams, claimed that CH&PA had failed to produce a detailed plan on how it intended to spend the monies. At least two prominent lawyers, Timothy Jonas and Sir Fenton Ramsahoye had raised questions also of the legality.
