Jagdeo invested $20B from Treasury to enrich self, family and friends
Kaieteur News has been at the forefront of reporting on corruption and other questionable deals in which billions of taxpayers’ dollars were blatantly used to secretly fill the pockets of a few.
As a result of extensive research and consultations with worried industry experts, Kaieteur News has unearthed a massive scheme by former President Bharrat Jagdeo, who when at the helm of power in Guyana, engineered the heist of the telecommunications industry. The plan was to use monies from the national coffers to finance a number of seemingly unrelated projects that cost Guyanese in excess of US$100 Million {$20B}.
Fibre Optic Cables GT&T signed a US$30M deal with Suriname to land a submarine fibre optic cable in Guyana. That cable has the capacity to service the demands of Guyana, five times over, providing ‘lightning speed internet service’ to the country by increasing its available bandwidth 3,000 fold. The Jagdeo administration announced shortly after, much to the surprise of Guyana, that it was no longer interested in holding onto its shares in GT&T. That 20 per cent shareholding was one of the most lucrative investments for Government, earning as much as $500M a year. By the time GT&T’s fibre optic cable landed in Guyana, Jagdeo announced that Government had already made a down payment for its own fibre optic cable coming from Brazil. He said that the government cable will facilitate E-Governance—an ambitious US$32M plan to increase efficiency in the public service.
Cable TV Restricted Unknown to the Guyanese public, Jagdeo had already called in all operators of Cable Television across the country and halted their operations. Included in the bunch was one operator who is also providing wireless internet service, Vishok Persaud’s E-Networks. The then President, like a knight in shining armour, granted a reprieve to the operators but with the condition that they do not expand their operations. E-Networks was, however, allowed to expand its services countrywide, while the Jagdeo administration turned a blind eye. Jagdeo then announced another ambitious project –this time using the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL). This massive US$42M expansion project was at first glance a good sell as it would include changing out the aging transmission power lines along the coastlands. Jagdeo secured a loan from China for this venture. What Guyana did not know until later about this transmission line was that it contained a built in fibre optic cable. It stretches from Essequibo, through Georgetown to Berbice. GPL sought to justify the use of the fibre optic by claiming that it was for connecting the power company’s network. This massive new fibre optic network is also complemented by the construction of 54 LTE (Long Term Evolution) towers which were erected under the E-governance project. The towers reportedly cost in excess of US$10M.
Automatic Telecoms Licence While all this was going on, the Jagdeo administration crafted a piece of legislation which revealed one of the most shocking and unprecedented occurrences anywhere in the world. It identified companies which would automatically be handed a Telecommunications Licence when the legislation is passed. GT&T and Digicel are already holders of Telecommunications Licences. A Telecommunications Licence is indeed a valuable document as it allows its holder to provide any internet-related service including the sale of bandwidth, cable television and mobile/cellular. So just who are the companies named in this proposed law to be handed Telecommunications Licences? Two of those companies are E-Networks and Quark Communications Inc. E-Networks has as its shareholders, Vishok Persaud and his sister Member of Parliament, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, both the children of former PPP Minister, the late Reepu Daman Persaud; Keith Evelyn (Brassington’s partner in Hand in Hand Trust) and Rakesh Puri. Quark Communications has as its shareholders Jagdeo’s niece, Subrina Singh, Brassington and Brian Yong, a close friend of the former President. Interestingly, Quark has its base of operations in a compound at Versailles, West Bank Demerara, which belongs to none other than Jagdeo’s best friend, Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop. Another private company slated to be handed a Telecommunications Licence is iNet Communications Inc. This company has as its principals, Dr. Bobby Ramroop, his secretary Valerie Khan and one of his Directors, Roopnarine Ramcharitar, among others.
Foundation Laid But what does all of this mean when one takes a step back and takes a look at the bigger picture? Upon completion of the multiplicity of projects spearheaded by Jagdeo, there will be a massive network in place with the capacity to not only rival GT&T but also put it out of business. When the administration was asked what it intends to do with the excess bandwidth it would have available to it via the Brazil cable, Government shockingly admitted that it would be sold to private operators. A clear picture was emerging of the plan. With little private investment, but with the use of taxpayers’ dollars to install a fibre optic network, the restriction of Cable TV operators, and the sale of GT&T shares, Jagdeo literally laid the foundation for the takeover of the industry. These few companies, all closely linked to Jagdeo, are now positioned to compete directly in one of the most lucrative industries in the world…telecommunication— and it was all done using taxpayers’ dollars. These select companies will now be in a position to firstly close down every private cable television operator, sell cheaper bandwidth than any other Internet Service Provider and embark on rolling out cellular services.
Guaranteed Market Not only did the former President utilize the nation’s coffers to put in the infrastructure required for these private companies to take over the industry, he also secured a guaranteed market for them. Shortly before he was scheduled to demit office, Jagdeo rolled out another multi-billion-dollar (US$27M) project and said Government will supply 90,000 laptops to families across the country. This was a critical component of the grand scheme orchestrated by Jagdeo to create huge demand for internet connectivity. Industry experts have also opined that by refusing to use GT&T’s submarine cable in the first place, Jagdeo in essence has left Guyana four years behind the technology curb.
