“NICIL is the government’s El Dorado” – Nagamootoo

Alliance For Change (AFC) executive member, Moses Nagamootoo, says, “National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) is the lost city of El Dorado” since many are trying to hoodwink Guyanese into believing that there is nothing abnormal about monies under the control of the privatization unit of the Government. “Brassington and company must be held accountable and we will not be distracted.”

Commenting on an article in another section of the media under the caption “Christopher Ram, Moses Nagamootoo beneficiaries of NICIL monies” that was printed on, May 13, last which stated that Christopher Ram and Moses Nagamootoo benefited from NICIL funds, Nagamootoo said he is an arbitrator in a matter engaging National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and GNIC (Laparkan). The action was initiated by NICIL to claim in excess of $600M owed to the company by GNIC as rent for the large Lombard Street Complex that is managed by NICIL.

“When I see Mr (Winston) Brassington going public to talk about fees being paid to attorneys, I believe this is an attack on all professionals. Because we question how an entity operates and because we question what we consider to be mismanagement of a state-owned entity do we have no right to a view in public once we receive any fees for professional work done for NICIL?” Nagamootoo questioned.

Nagamootoo added that he finds it reprehensible, since Brassington also resorted to spewing untruths. One of them is that he, Nagamootoo, works for NICIL in several other projects. “This is not true. Government has been very selective particularly under the Jadgeo administration…The two major projects I worked on were the removal of homeowners for the construction of the Berbice Bridge on both sides of the river, and the removal of farmers for excavation for the Hope Canal.”

Chairman of the Alliance for Change, Khemraj Ramjattan, said although Brassington disclosed recently that NICIL had $700 million in its coffers, it leaves room for more questions than answers on the activities of the entity. “If in 2003 NICIL had $33 billion in revenues, and then you proceeded from that year to sell so many other things and to have other things divested into NICIL for which it had to collect dividends and rentals. When all this addition is done it comes up to $50 plus billion.

“Why is it that they are not coming clean with their books?” Ramjattan questioned. “We want him (Brassington) to answer questions on, where has the money been invested? Who are the beneficiaries of the investment and actual intermediaries through which the investments were made? The sale of assets, to whom and for what price? Were these the best prices?…We want to know the entirety of the transactions over the last 10 years from NICIL.”

Noting that after Queens Atlantic bought the Sanata Complex the value immediately skyrocketed, Ramjattan said that it must also be investigated if the complex was sold at a very low price, then suddenly its value rapidly climbed annually. “Is it possible that the genuine market prices were then applied after it was sold which was then exhibited in the financial statements of Queens Atlantic?”   Ramjattan further questioned.

He added that since NICIL is controlled by the Government, it should also reflect the dividends of the varieties of companies and all its revenue; since the National Assembly has the final say on where the monies should be channeled and invested.
“Government has placed NICIL Executive Director Winston Brassington to be the scapegoat in relation to the NICIL issues. The persons that have caused all of this include Dr Luncheon, former Ministers of Finance, the present Minister of Finance so it would seem as if they would want to shift and distract us from the activities of the Ministers and Roger Luncheon.

“It is not Brassington alone that should be blamed,” Ramjattan emphatically said. He said the economic service committee should be set up and transactions of companies made under the umbrella of NICIL should be known and information scrutinized. “We will be prosecuting certain claims against directors of NICIL because we are absolutely certain that wrongs have been committed.”