Govt. unlikely to pull contracts from security firm
…police preparing to charge owner over stolen OLPF laptops
Investigators are expected to lay charges shortly against the owner of Strategic Action Security Limited, a prominent security firm, after millions of dollars of suspected stolen items were found in his Queenstown property last week. Among them were laptops confirmed stolen last August from the Queenstown office of the government’s One Laptop Per Family (OLPF).
Richard Kanhai
The administration said that while it cannot legally terminate the state contracts awarded to the company, current legal troubles could affect whether new security contracts are awarded in the future. Both Attorney General Anil Nandlall, and Junior Finance Minister, Juan Edghill, made it clear yesterday that the termination of any of Strategic Action’s contracts is not likely to happen anytime soon. According to Nandlall, the appropriate response now has to come from the police, who are charged with investigating crimes. He also said that the Constitution provides that an accused be presumed innocent until proven guilty. The AG insisted that Government does not want to convey the impression that it is supporting any wrongdoings. At the same time, the administration would be placing itself in an awkward legal position by taking preemptive actions at this time. Minister Edghill went further, pointing out that the security firm won the contract under established procurement process. However, the Minister said, any future contract might be affected as the security firm will have to disclose as part of the bidding process, any current legal troubles or other litigations. The bids are assessed on the merits of the answers. Police officials yesterday called for persons, especially on the West Bank of Demerara area, who may have lost stuff during burglaries, to check with La Grange Police Station to see whether some of the items may be theirs. According to police sources close to the investigation, investigators want to ensure that they build an airtight case against the security official. Police arrested Richard Kanhai, the main principal of Strategic Action Security Limited, last Wednesday evening following a raid on the Laluni Street, Queenstown office of the security firm. The company reportedly has a number of contracts with Government to provide security services to state properties, especially in Region Two. Reports are that a police team, comprising ranks from the city and West Demerara area, raided the Queenstown property after receiving information that stolen items were sold to someone there.
Police vehicles at the Laluni Street, Queenstown, office of Strategic Action during the raid last.
Apparently, several homes on West Demerara were broken into during a spate of burglaries. A number of persons arrested for the burglaries fingered the security company’s official as the buyer. However, at the Queenstown property, police got the surprise of their lives after stumbling on several flat screen TVs and reportedly laptops marked with the OLPF logo stashed in a separate building. Also found were a plough and reportedly a power supply bearing markings of the Ministry of Health. A police Canter truck removed the items from another property in the Laluni Street compound and arrested Kanhai and a number of others. The items were all recovered from a back building in the yard that was heavily secured. More than 100 of the laptops had disappeared from the OLPF’s Queenstown bond last August. Although no one was arrested, several staffers of the OLPF were placed under lie detector tests. But there were no signs of the missing laptops until about seven or eight were found last week at the security firm’s premises. The laptops are reportedly part of the 90,000 that government is distributing, over a three year period to poor families. Air-tight Case According to police sources yesterday, they are working hard to ensure that they gather all evidence and tie up loose ends in order to prosecute the case. Over the weekend the Guyana Youth and Student Movement (GYSM), an arm of the Opposition’s A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) demanded that Government withdraw all state contracts awarded to Strategic Action Security. According to Christopher Jones, Chairman of GYSM, the pulling of the contracts would prove if indeed President Donald Ramotar is serious about stamping out corruption. Jones said that Strategic Action Security receives about 90 percent of state contracts, to the tune of millions of dollars, to secure Government buildings, including schools and hospitals. “When we were reviewing 2013 estimates in the Committee of Supply it was observed by Members of Parliament that Strategic Action Security provides security for almost all Government buildings under every Ministry. This situation is not new, this also happened under the Ninth Parliament, I am told,” Jones stated.