Government has ordered the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Ltd (NICIL) to take legal action to recover the outstanding US$5 million from Hong Kong Golden Telecom Limited (HKGT) for the purchase of government shares in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT).

This disclosure was made by Minister of State Harmon during his post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday. “Cabinet has passed this matter onto the Ministry of Finance to advise NICIL to proceed to take the legal steps that are necessary for us to be able to recover this sum of money,” Harmon said. The two sides have been locked in negotiation for in excess of two years to resolve the situation.

The shares were sold to the Chinese firm in 2012. The deal was entered into by the then PPP/C administration but only US$25 million of the agreed US$30 million was known to have been paid…..