DPP, former PSC head among Pradoville 2 beneficiaries
– Jagdeo gave himself two plots
Bharrat Jagdeo
Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack, and former Head of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Ramesh Dookhoo were among several persons who benefitted from house lots in the upscale Pradoville Two scheme.
The details of how that exclusive scheme at Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara, was created under the direction of former President Bharrat Jagdeo, had angered the country as the state resources were used to develop the area which was then sold way below market prices and under questionable circumstances to a chosen few.
There was no immediate evidence that the parceled lands were opened up for other citizens to have a shot at acquiring.
The area is known officially as Plantation Sparendaam and Goedverwagting Two but dubbed Pradoville Two by citizens.
According to details of the transactions seen by Kaieteur News, Jagdeo got himself the biggest plots in the Goedverwagting Two section. As matter of fact, he paid $7.5M for one and $2.3M for another parcel.
Former Public Service Minister, Dr. Jennifer Westford; former Natural Resources Minister, Robert Persaud; Compton Bourne, former Head of the Caribbean Development Bank and UG Chancellor; Ghansham Singh and Kamini Parag-Singh and Florrie Loretta Ramnauth also received house lots.
Singh is said to be the son of former Labour Minister, Dr. Nanda Gopaul. They also paid just over $1.5M.
Ali-Hack and her husband, Moeen ul Hack, a top figure in the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), paid $1,488,744 for a piece of land. The Certificates of Title were prepared in 2011.
Dookhoo, a Banks DIH executive, was a former Chairman of PSC as well as the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI). He reportedly paid $1,502,500 for his plot with his title prepared in 2010.
Also benefitting was Lisaveta Ramotar, daughter of former President Donald Ramotar. She paid $1,515,000.
Former Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee; former GWI’s boss, Shaik Baksh and former Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, also received lots, paying just over $1.5M each.
DPP, Shalimar Ali-Hack
Benefitted: Ramesh Dookhoo
So too did former Army Chief, Rear Admiral Gary Best and sacked Chief Executive Officer of the embattled Guyana Sugar Corporation, Dr. Rajendra Singh.
Also named in the list were Andrew Bishop, a Presidential Advisor in the former administration and former Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission.
Safraaz Khan and George Hallaq, said to be the country’s former Middle East envoy, and a company called Future Developers International Guyana Inc were also among the other names on the list.
It is on record that Jagdeo himself had owned a piece of land and property in nearby Goedverwagting, located along the Ogle Airport Road. That area had been called Pradoville One.
However, Jagdeo claimed that he sold the mansion he built there to a Trinidad friend, Ernie Ross.
It is unclear if he paid the Capital Gains taxes on the profits he made. It was reported that he sold the property for US$600,000 ($120M).
In ordering the creation of the seaside Pradoville Two, Jagdeo during his last term which ended in 2011- and his administration- ordered the removal of a transmitting tower belonging to the National Communications Network to facilitate the creation of the community.
Jagdeo not only used state resources to develop the lands, but positioned himself to buy two acres.
In the process, he paid three times less than what ordinary citizens in the Diamond and Grove Housing Schemes, East Bank Demerara, would have been required to dole out.
Jagdeo reportedly paid $5M per acre which works out at $114 per square foot; the ordinary man paid $317 per square foot for his plot.
On it he built an imposing mansion, complete with pool and a high fence to keep out the Atlantic Ocean- the same Atlantic Ocean he said was rising because of climate change.
Remigrants paid more than ten times the price Jagdeo paid for the same size house lot. They paid $1,111 per square foot.
The ordinary house lots for remigrants and citizens are not ocean front, but are located on East Bank and East Coast of Demerara, in what were abandoned cane fields.
Jagdeo also oversaw the passage of laws regarding benefits for former presidents which give him unlimited use of water, electricity and telephone. In so doing, he guaranteed himself unlimited personal and household staff including an attendant and gardener.
There are also full-time personal security and services of the Presidential Guard Service at his place of residence along with an unspecified number of motor vehicles to be maintained by the state.
However, the benefits were capped in the National Assembly by the David Granger administration which swept into power on May 11 after a close race.
Jagdeo’s party was defeated after more than two decades ruling Guyana. There were accusations of heavy corruption and mismanagement of a number of multi-billion public projects, which were initiated by Jagdeo himself.
