The “wholesale rape” of Guyana’s resources will not go unchallenged, according to Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo. During his Thursday (June 6, 2019) news conference, he disclosed that information reaching the office have sent worrying signals about happenings involved in the move to sell off assets of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
Decisions are being made about the future of three sugar estates – Skeldon, Rose Hall and Enmore estates – that were closed by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government. And, according to Jagdeo, with Rose Hall Estate being the first up for sale, the information indicates that assets are being siphoned off. He explained that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) did a valuation that included a list of assets – operable and unserviceable assets.
However, he noted that the APNU+AFC Coalition Government appointed manager at Rose Hall Estate has been involved in moving operable assets to the unserviceable assets list and selling these off for a fraction of what it is valued. “So a TM-740 tractor, worth about $15M, was sold off to friends and family of APNU officials for less than $500,000,” he said.
The Opposition Leader added, “Pricewaterhouse- Coopers (PwC) is an international firm has to be seeing this…if they are not complicit, they should speak up, because if you privatize you will do so at peppercorn rates.” To date, he noted that key questions remain unanswered. These include: What assets are being sold? When were the sales advertised? Who were the assets sold to? “We must have answers to these questions,” he said.
Further, Jagdeo disclosed that the Rose Hall Estate manager also has a harvesting contract at the Albion Sugar Estate and has been using resources from the Rose Hall Estate to execute his contract. Currently, while the other Estates are up for sale, only three Guy- SuCo estates have been kept open – Uitvlugt, Albion and the Blairmont estates. “There is a wholesale rape of our resources,” he declared. More details surface to expose ‘rape’ of Guyana resources
