Django!!! A question for you. 

How come you don't see these topics to post.. I know you is a man up early giving us all the headline but recently you have become a cockroach...

Clive Thomas is nothing but a Robber Baron!!!!!!

Imran posted:

President either ‘out of sync with reality’ or part of ‘conspiracy to mislead nation’ – Nandlall

November 24, 2016

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71

 

• on D’urban Park fiasco

Former Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, said it is “quite unfortunate” that the President has stepped into the fray to lend his voice in support to the fiasco which surrounds the private company, Home Stretch Development Inc (HDI’s) involvement in the D’urban Park Development Project.

“The President enters the fray and clearly demonstrates either he is out of sync with reality or he is part of a conspiracy to mislead the nation,” Nandlall said in a statement a few minutes ago to INews.

Nandlall contends that, irrespective of how it is spun, the financial provisions of the Constitution, several provisions of the Financial Management and Accountability Act and the Procurement Act were all grossly violated and this entire fiasco reeks of corruption, cronyism and criminality.

Following is the full text of Nandlall’s statement to INews:

It is quite unfortunate that the President has stepped into the fray to lend his voice in support to the fiasco which surrounds the private company, Home Stretch Development Inc (HDI’s) involvement in the D’urban Park Development Project.

In a Press Statement, the President clouds the issue of accountability and transparency in relation to monies spent on the project by glorifying and extolling the virtues of the D’urban Park Project. His members of Parliament did the identical thing in the National Assembly a few nights ago in order to avoid addressing the real issues.

The fact is this private company was secretly established and collected hundreds of millions of dollars to spend to develop a State asset. No one knew about this company and its directors until Monday night when Minister David Patterson was forced to disclose these details in the National Assembly.

Even then, he misled the National Assembly by not naming Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, as a Director. He refused to answer important questions as to why this company was incorporated and given the work; how much money did it receive and from whom; how much monies are owed and to whom these monies are owed? And what process of procurement was used by this company to procure goods and services for this project.? He refused to also disclose the total cost of this project, what are the liabilities arising from this project and what are the costs for the day to day management of this project?

The law is very clear of this issue. Once private monies are used on a public project it must be spent and accounted for in the same manner like public monies. Clearly this was not understood by those who formed this private company. It is obvious that this company was used for this project so that the monies received and spent would not be the subject of Parliamentary scrutiny and oversight and the procurement of goods and services would not have to be done in accordance with the Procurement Act. This is exactly what transpired and that is why Minister Patterson refused to answer the questions posed to him in the National Assembly.

In his defense, he directed us to go and ask the private company and said that he is not answerable for that company. The following day when the Company Secretary, Larry London, was asked by the Press these very questions, he said he gave Minister Patterson all the information. So there is cover-up all around.

Then the President enters the fray and clearly demonstrates either he is out of sync with reality or he is part of a conspiracy to mislead the nation. The President says that the Government did not have money to commence work on this project and as time was running out, that this company was incorporated to start the work until the Government was able to get funding from its budget. However, the 2015 budget was passed in August 2015 by this Government. So by September 2015 there was money to be spent by the Government. This company was not incorporated until January 2016. However, massive works started on this project in September 2015.The President’s story therefore, simply does not make sense.

The President also conveys the impression that this is a Government company. However, Minister Patterson was at pains in the National Assembly to convey the impression that this is a private company for which the Government is not answerable. Indeed, this is the very reason why he diverted questions away from himself to the private company and deliberately did not disclose that Minister Roopnaraine is a Director of this company.

If the company was a Government company as the President claims, why was this not made public for the past eleven months? There are three Directors of this company who have no known connection to the Government. Who are these people? If it was a Government company why did it not receive monies through the constitutional process, that is via the Parliament? Why was the Procurement Act not used but contractors were handpicked? Where is the Cabinet decision to incorporate this company? Will this company be audited by the Auditor General? We are aware that hundreds of millions of dollars are owed to contractors who will pay these debts?

Irrespective of how it is spun, the financial provisions of the Constitution, several provisions of the Financial Management and Accountability Act and the Procurement Act were all grossly violated and this entire fiasco reeks of corruption, cronyism and criminality.

Granjer has always been a hands on leader. He knows exactly what is going on. He is calling all of the shots behind the scenes. Granjer is essentially a hardcore anti-koolie. These are his shots being called and carried out.

The JACKASS Granger is a thief and a stinking LIAR!!!!!!!

Granger was heading the army when Burnham steals Indian lively hood, the murder of Walter Rodney , the allegation of brutality against Indian . Green  

Green - has a history that follows him.... yet the ABC countries support these criminals and did not bring them to justice ... and the so call Koolie who support them ...

i know of families who are selling out and leaving the country. businessmen also .  ... supporters of AFC are disappointed . well, know business in Canada who support AFC with thousands of dollars have express disappointment . A well-known business owner said to me yesterday ... Guyana has gone from bad to worst .

The PNC hardcore is calling on business owners via phone  to donate large sum of money to funds parties and social gathering. Hamilton Green was personally on the call ... my boys will come by to pick up $ plus food stuff ... and they tell you home much they want . Business owners are afraid to speak out .... their business will be a target after.

AFC donors recently had a meeting with Granger and were told PNC hardcore is giving a tough time and wants to regain control 

Well, I am no Einstein BUT I warned the FILTH HEADS. But being FILTH HEADS all warnings naturally will go over their heads. It is the nature of FILTH HEADS. As humans, I am happy that none of the FILTH HEADS got in contact with Jim Jones. Buying Snakeoil and Wood Computa as investments are not too bad for FILTH HEADS!!!!!!!!!

Raise yuh hand if you are a FILTH HEAD!!!

Nehru posted:

Well, I am no Einstein BUT I warned the FILTH HEADS. But being FILTH HEADS all warnings naturally will go over their heads. It is the nature of FILTH HEADS. As humans, I am happy that none of the FILTH HEADS got in contact with Jim Jones. Buying Snakeoil and Wood Computa as investments are not too bad for FILTH HEADS!!!!!!!!!

 

Raise yuh hand if you are a FILTH HEAD!!!

Haul you a.....s,how was your thanksgiving had a good day?

Great Day Bhai. The problem is I have to eat leftovers for the next two days. Old Lady refuse to cook.

Nehru posted:

Great Day Bhai. The problem is I have to eat leftovers for the next two days. Old Lady refuse to cook.

I got some too all will be finished today.

Looks like the pnc/afc supporters giving them a free pass on corrupt practices. These same funny fellows were so loud and visible during the PPP era, now cat cut their tungue. The piticha lakka pitcha man pass but the rest of them ducking fuh cover.

Blatantly hypocritical indeed. Others from Sophia University just being their RACIST self. They know who they are and at least one is very  proud to be a RACIST PIG.

Nothing criminal about the D’urban Park project

-private company was created to fast track completion, President says

PRESIDENT David Granger has addressed several concerns raised by the Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) about the construction of the D’urban Park Development project, which was established to host activities for Guyana’s 50th jubilee celebrations.
It was recently revealed in the National Assembly that a private company – Homestretch Development Incorporated (HDI) – was established to collect donations for construction of the project and included several directors. It was later revealed also that Minister of Education, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, was one of the directors.

This has since attracted the ire of the Opposition, which has accused the government of lack of transparency regarding the project, but President Granger during the weekly televised programme ‘The Public Interest’ made it clear that this company was created solely to facilitate completion of the project in time for the 50th Independence Anniversary celebration in the absence of budgetary allocations, following the May 2015 elections.

The Head of State admitted that while this might have been an unusual course of action, it was expedient at the time and Guyanese now have a valuable asset, which is a source of national pride and added that the company is not a secret one and has been notified to the National Assembly, a release from the Ministry of the Presidency noted.
According to the President, there was nothing secret nor criminal about the D’urban Park development.

“When we went into office, budgetary provisions were not made for the construction of that stadium in time for Independence celebrations in May 2016 and it was felt prudent to establish a special-purpose company… when we realised that we had to engage in contracts and agreements with construction firms to build the stands and everything else that was involved in the stadium and as soon as we could, we terminated the work of that company and [transferred the project to] the Ministry of Public Infrastructure with the sole responsibility to complete the Project,” President Granger said.

According to the release, the President further added that when his administration acceded to office in May 2015, some ad hoc measures had been put in place for rehabilitation of the Independence Monument, which had been neglected for several decades. However, since no budgetary allocations had been made for the construction of a stadium, it soon became clear that it was necessary to establish a short-term company to complete the project on schedule.

“It was decided that a special purpose company called Homestretch Development Incorporated (HDI) would be used to continue the preparations, which had been started, until the Government had passed the budget and put other infrastructural institutions in place; and when that came to an end, the responsibility for HDI, that is particularly with regard to D’urban Park, transferred to the Ministry of Public infrastructure so there is nothing secret, or there is nothing criminal about HDI,” the Head of State said.

The President said that the company has only existed for six months and he regards it as a transitional company that enabled the administration to complete the project. He said that he is grateful for the company and the contributions made by citizens, who helped the Government to reach its deadline and Guyanese are now the proud owners of a valuable asset.

“We could not have done it before because of uncertainty about the budget and the speed with which we had to bring the project to a conclusion by this year. It was just one year, but we have now in Guyana, the single biggest stadium… and it is a public asset, which will be there for all time. So we have a very important institution that is open to all Guyanese. You can have your Diwali, you can have Christian crusades, you can have Hindu and Muslim services there, but we have a valuable asset that we did not have before,” he said.

Minister Roopnaraine’s involvement

As it relates to Dr. Roopnaraine’s role as a member of the board, the President noted that it was only to represent the Government’s interest, “because the celebrations, which we had aimed at, at the time of the establishment of the company, concerned largely the 50th anniversary celebrations.”

Minister of State Joseph Harmon had earlier revealed at a post-cabinet press briefing on Thursday that the company was established long after works started by public-spirited citizens for the public good and it became necessary to establish it to source funding, after their efforts had been exhausted.
“The time when the company was established did not coincide with the time the work started, because it started as private citizens coming forward and giving of their time and of their resources… It really was about private citizens coming forward to clean up a public place for a public good. I want to make this distinction between what happened there at D’urban Park and what happened in the previous administration. The previous administration, they were using public assets for the benefit of a private few. I need to make that very clear… that this was private citizens contributing to a public good as opposed to taking public asset and converting it to private… benefit,” he said.

On April 19, 2016, President Granger mandated the Minister of Public Infrastructure to assume full responsibility for the D’urban Park Development Project as its completion date drew near.

Opposition wants Patterson hauled before Disciplinary Committee

Meanwhile, leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, believes that Minister Patterson misled the nation by refusing to reveal that Minister Roopnaraine was a Director of the private company. As such, Jagdeo said that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is examining the issue to decide whether Minister Patterson should appear before the National Assembly’s Privileges Committee.

“We are trying to establish whether this is actually a private company or a state company. If it is a private company, then there may be no ground to take him before the committee. But if it had some involvement with the State, then there are grounds to do that,” Jagdeo told reporters at a news conference held at Freedom House on Thursday.

Government however has maintained that the company, Homestretch Development Inc. is a private one and includes several directors. Documents later surfaced, which revealed that Minister Roopnaraine is a director of said company, which was registered in January 2016.

“Are we saying in this era, it’s ok for ministers to be on private companies that are collecting money from people for national projects and they don’t have to account for it? Rupert Roopnaraine sat in the Parliament and didn’t say a word…and Patterson did not mention his name. He knew about the other directors, but why didn’t he mention? Doesn’t that tell you something about Patterson too? Doesn’t he tell you that he was trying to mislead the country?” Jagdeo questioned.

The Opposition Leader said there are still many unanswered questions surrounding the project, including who the contractors were and what process was used to pay them.

“The State has a responsibility to say to the ministers on the body, ‘you have to tell us how much money’. What were the arrangements between the State and this private company? We don’t know what the arrangements are. They refuse to tell us in Parliament, that’s all we’re asking for. And we would like the names of the individuals who donated,” the former President said.

THE STINKING LIAR AND JACKASS KNOWS HE CAN ONLY SPEAK TO HIS SHIT HEADS SUPPORTERS!!!!!!!

Granger says D’Urban Park company was set up due to absence of budget

-insists Roopnaraine did no wrong.

November 25,2016

Source

Seeking to squash opposition accusations of a lack of transparency on the initial development of D’Urban Park, the government yesterday said Homestretch Development Incorporated (HDI) was a special purpose company that was set up to manage the preparation of the facility for the independence jubilee celebrations in the absence of a budgetary allocation and none of its directors received any compensation for their roles.

The government also sought to defend the involvement of Education Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine as a director of the company, with President David Granger saying his role was only to represent the government’s interest.

“It was decided that a special purpose company, called HDI… Homestretch Development Incorpo-rated, would be used to continue the preparations, which had been started, until the government had passed the budget and put other infrastructural institutions in place and when that came to an end the responsibility for HDI, that is particularly with regard to D’Urban Park, transferred to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. So there is nothing secret, or there is nothing criminal about the HDI, it did serve a purpose and when that purpose or that usefulness came to an end, responsibility was handed over to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure,” President Granger said yesterday during a segment on The Public Interest interview programme, which was pre-released by the Ministry of the Presidency ahead of today’s scheduled broadcast.

Asked about the company only being registered this year, while the D’Urban Park works would have been initiated last November, Granger said it was only a month or two difference.

“As I explained, when we went into office, budgetary provision was not made for the construction of that stadium in time for independence celebrations in May, 2016 and it was felt prudent to establish a special purpose company… when we realised that we had to engage in contracts and agreements with construction firms to build the stands and everything else that was involved in the stadium. And as soon as we could, we terminated the work of that company and established the Ministry of Public Infrastructure with the sole responsibility to compete the project,” he noted.

The president added that the company only existed for six months and that he might regard it as “a transitional company” that enabled the administration to complete the project. He said that he is grateful for the company and the contributions made by citizens, who helped the government to reach its deadline and Guyanese are now the proud owners of a valuable asset. “I think a lot of Guyanese are proud of the asset, which we now possess. It belongs to the Guyanese people,” he said.

Addressing Roopnaraine’s role, Granger emphasised that he had committed no error and was only the representative on a company that was formally established. He added that the company’s establishment had not been concealed.

The establishment of the company was not publicly announced by government.

No payment to directors

Meanwhile, Patterson told Stabroek News on Wednesday that neither Roopnaraine nor any of other directors of the company collected financial or any other compensation for their roles.  “None of the directors collected any monies for their roles,” he told Stabroek News.

Patterson explained that the special purpose company was set up in keeping with legal requirements, as was the case for other government projects, and he stressed that there was nothing sinister behind the move.

“This was a special purpose company, set up in a model done as in others, such as for the Indepen-dence Arch rehabilitation and so forth… and was for the purpose that accounts for donations made by citizens, that was the intention of the company,” Patterson said.

Patterson had disclosed the name of the company to the National Assembly on Monday but noted that when he did so it was impromptu and therefore he could not give an in-depth account for the whole project.

Patterson was speaking on a motion brought by PPP/C Member of Parliament Juan Edghill to have government inform the public about all aspects of the D’Urban Park Development Project.

Patterson told the House that in its first phase the project was managed by HDI, which was owned by L London, B Ram, G Miller and B Wilson. He also admitted that there were no records in the possession of the government of the donations and contributions made to the company. “I assume that this information would be in their statutory financial report,” he said when pressed.

The full names on the Articles of Incorporation for HDI are Lawrence (Larry) Wilson, Bobita Ram, Victor Wilson and Gentian Miller.

On Tuesday, the PPP/C held a press conference and announced that it had uncovered that Minister of Education Dr. Roopnaraine was listed as one of directors of HDI).

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo made it clear that his party believed that Patterson purposefully withheld information on the matter in House and it is currently analyzing the situation to determine if he should be sanctioned. “Rupert sat in Parliament and never said a word and Patterson never said his name…Patterson was trying to mislead the country again,” Jagdeo said.

“We are trying to establish whether this is a private company or a state company. If it is a private company, then there is no ground to take him before the committee. But if it was the state, then there is grounds to take him before the privileges committee,” he added.

Stabroek News contacted Roopnaraine who agreed to an interview yesterday, but later said that Patterson would speak on the matter. When Larry London was contacted he said, “I would suggest that you speak with Minister Patterson, he is in charge of that and he knows everything.”

Patterson on Wednesday said that while the PPP/C took issue with his not naming Roopnaraine, the opposition never asked for a list of the directors of the company during Monday’s sitting.

Patterson added that he understands that the opposition’s job is to make itself look good and it has its work to do. “The opposition will always do what they have to do, I guess. But as far as the ministry is concerned, we always have been forthright and honest with the House and every question we would have been asked, we provided answers for and that is a fact,” Patterson stressed.

Minister of State Joseph Harmon also addressed the issue yesterday and he said HDI could not have been established before works commenced at the site because works at D’Urban Park began with private citizens’ voluntary labour and materials.

He said that upon the APNU+AFC coalition assuming office, a National Commemoration Commis-sion (NCC) was established and among its tasks was to overlook works at D’Urban Park. “So that is how Dr. Roopnaraine became part of that company that was tasked specifically with the development of the facility. The company was registered in the deeds registry and that was notice to the world,” Harmon stated.

Removed from scrutiny

Stabroek News was told that The Companies Act of 1991 makes provision for a company to be used for a number of ventures.  Sometimes companies choose a single financial transaction or bench venture and that is called a Special Purpose Vehicle or Company. There is no real difference in the form it takes from the general trading companies but  the persons behind a particular company may limit its activities to the pursuit of one particular financial exercise as in this case the Independence Arch Restoration project or the D’Urban Park  development.

It was explained by a government official that this avenue was also taken to isolate the persons overlooking the project from personal financial and other legal risks. All companies are required by law to disclose annually their audited financial operations.

But former Attorney General Anil Nandlall reasoned that while the law caters for Special Companies or Special Vehicle Companies, he believes that the corporate avenue of choice was to avoid scrutiny.

“The explanation given by the government for the incorporation of a limited liability private company and a finding to that company’s responsibilities and duties, which clearly dissolve upon the government, is hogwash. A government simply cannot alienate from itself intrinsic government responsibility, which is in this case infrastructural development. This is simply a mechanism, which the government has utilized, to shield this project from scrutiny, from transparency, and from accountability to which the government would have been subject, had the government undertook that work,” he said.

“Had the government undertaken the work, monies would have had to been secured from the National Assembly, the opposition would have had an opportunity and indeed the nation would have had an opportunity to know what was taken from the treasury and for what purpose it would have been spent. Secondly, the accounts of that company would have been subject to an audit of the Auditor General and would have been part of the Auditor General’s report, which would have been scrutinized by the Public Accounts Committee. Thirdly, the government would have been compelled, by law, to procure all the goods and services for this project, in accordance with the Procurement Act. That means there would have been public tendering etcetera. By assigning this task to a private company, the government has removed the project from these constitutional and legal mechanisms and devices established to scrutinize the expenditure of public funds or private funds on a state asset or a government project. It is my respectful view that this was specifically done to hide the transaction away from scrutiny and accountability,” he charged.

Nandlall pointed out that while government states that the project was donor funded and therefore did not necessitate use of state funds, it is still mandated by law to provide information on the business to the relevant authorities.

“We are saying that if it was a donor funded project that the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act mandates them to account for all private monies spent on a public project. The fact that private monies was used does not exempt it from scrutiny and accountability and then the Integrity Act makes it illegal and a criminal offence to accept donations and gifts over the value of $10,000. So, on no legal ground can the use of this private company be excused,” he posited.

Nandlall informed that he has evidence that several contractors are still owed monies for works undertaken on the project and that they are confused about to where to send their charges and litigation documents.

“These are contractors that were handpicked and given contracts without any resort to the procedures mandated by the Procurement Act. In my law practice, I have been consulted by one such contractor who is owed nearly $500M. To whom must he now go for his money? Should he go to the private company or should he sue the state? ” he questioned.

“The [Ministry of Public Infrastructure] said that they only spent $400M on the project when they took it over. This contractor is owed $500M. Clearly he did work for the private company and I know that the work that he did was prior to the ministry taking over. Should he now go against these directors? And what is worse, I also know of persons from whom donations were extracted and the president’s name was utilized when the donations were extracted,” he added.

He said that while some will compare HDI to Atlantic Hotel Inc (AHI), which his government set up to manage the Marriott Hotel, the two are different in that one was transparent and the other was not.

“When the AHI was formed, it was made public, its objectives were made public and all of its accounts are audited as part of NICIL’s accounts. So it is a very lame excuse to make a comparison AHI and this project. The nation knew of AHI from the inception and I remember. Here, we only know of this months after and only because we tabled a motion in the Parliament,” he said, while calling on the international community, the Transparency Institute and critics of his government to speak out on the matter.

‘Come clean’

Also criticizing the lack of transparency on the project was former president Donald Ramotar. “I think the government ought to come clean and clear the air on this situation. The plot seems to be getting thicker as time unfolds and the fact that they had set up a company so late after the project had started, seems to me that there is some of the cover up,” he told Stabroek News.

“Not only a lot of money, millions and millions and many construction material donations, would have passed through their hands, but there has been nothing but silence on its accounting and a dodging. That is reason for concern. Many business persons would have complained to me about being shaken down, in the name of donating to government by government officials, and many were scared to go public. The government needs to say how much it received in donations and what it was used for. It needs to say what the roles of the directors of this company were and how contractors for the project were chosen. It needs to say why they could not make public that a special company was created to overlook the operations and why that information had to be literally squeezed out of them. It seems to me, this was a major shake down, and the public needs answers and they need it fast. Rupert should also say something,” he added.

These people building parks to have parades instead of investing in things like the electric infrastructure.  Isn't the stadium good enough for them to have their song and dance.

Looks like this bai Django got an extra strong dose of kookaid from Granger.  He believe every word this jackass says. 

VVP, when yuh dealing with DONKEYS nothing is sensible about them!!!!!!!!!!!

Drugb posted:

Looks like this bai Django got an extra strong dose of kookaid from Granger.  He believe every word this jackass says. 

Deh trying bhai,that Durban park fiasco i am in disagreement APNU/AFC need to come clean,by the way show some respect for the President of Guyana he is a Qualified person maybe a little rusty,that does come with age.

Django posted:by the way show some respect for the President of Guyana he is a Qualified person maybe a little rusty,that does come with age.

Djanjo, the president if Guyana is an idiot.  If he does not respect the Guyanese people why should he be respected.  Please don't ask me how he disrespected the people.

VVP posted:

Django posted:by the way show some respect for the President of Guyana he is a Qualified person maybe a little rusty,that does come with age.

Djanjo, the president if Guyana is an idiot.  If he does not respect the Guyanese people why should he be respected.  Please don't ask me how he disrespected the people.

VVP,

Guyanese politicians doesn't think before they act,most of them in this current gov't are in a disarray,they were in the trenches for 23 yrs so they are rusty,more than half of them are old chair warmers only there to collect their overpaid salary.

The Guyanese people will have to deal with the two dinosaurs the PPP and PNC for a while,we in the diaspora can pinpoint there faults,perhaps that can't be said of the people in the homeland.

We will respect jackass Granger as much as you folks respected Jagdeo when he was president. 

Drugb posted:

We will respect jackass Granger as much as you folks respected Jagdeo when he was president. 

Drugb posted:

We will respect jackass Granger as much as you folks respected Jagdeo when he was president. 

Throw them both in a shark tank.  It will be fun to watch 2 sharks go after each other LOL

Good ting PPP lost Durban Park woulda never happened the funds for that would have been put into some new addititions on Jaggy,s castle,,more electricity generators perhaps three just ain't enough for Da Jags.

And I thought Django was just DUMB but I think it is more a case of mental illness. Laad Ah Mercy!!  I have never read such CRAP not even from a Kindergarten student!!!!!!!!!!! WOw!! STUPID as STUPID gets!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nehru posted:

  I have never read such CRAP not even from a Kindergarten student!!!!!!!!!!! WOw!! STUPID as STUPID gets!!!!!!!!!!!!

You could. Just go back and reread most of your posts.

Nehru posted:

And I thought Django was just DUMB but I think it is more a case of mental illness. Laad Ah Mercy!!  I have never read such CRAP not even from a Kindergarten student!!!!!!!!!!! WOw!! STUPID as STUPID gets!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL..look who is talking this fella got 147,000 + post rank #3 on GNI, all with the same words pulled from his vocabulary,same over and over nothing of substance.

Any way read what Anil is saying below,he is like Columbus just found out "corruption, cronyism and criminality” exist.

November 26,2016 Source

– explanations contradict Minister Patterson – Nandlall

Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Anil Nandlall is not buying into the explanations offered by President David Granger in the latter’s effort to quell concerns surrounding the execution of the D’Urban Park Project.

Opposition MP,
Anil Nandlall

Calling it “unfortunate” that the President stepped into this realm, Nandlall said that the President attempted to cloud the issue of accountability and transparency in relation to monies spent on the project by glorifying and extolling the virtues of the D’Urban Park Project.
The PPP representative said that the strategy employed by President Granger mirrors the stance taken by government MPs when questioned in Parliament about issues surrounding the project, so as to “avoid addressing the real issues.”
Nandlall said that the “fact” is that the private company was “secretly” established and collected hundreds of millions of dollars to spend to develop a State asset.
He noted that information about Homestretch Development Inc and its directors was not made public until Monday when Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson “was forced to disclose these details in the National Assembly. Even then, he misled the National Assembly by not naming Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, as a Director.”
Nandlall also recalled that on that occasion, Patterson refused to divulge how much money it received and from whom; how much monies are owed and to whom these monies are owed. And what process of procurement was used by this company to procure goods and services for the project. Nandlall said that Patterson also refused to disclose the total cost of this project, what the liabilities arising from this project are, and the costs for the day to day management of the project.
The former Attorney General said that the law is very clear on this issue. He said that once private monies are used on a public project it must be spent and accounted for in the same manner like public monies.
“Clearly this was not understood by those who formed this private company. It is obvious that this company was used for this project so that the monies received and spent would not be the subject of Parliamentary scrutiny and oversight and the procurement of goods and services would not have to be done in accordance with the Procurement Act. This is exactly what transpired, and that is why Minister Patterson refused to answer the questions posed to him in the National Assembly,” Nandlall said.
He recalled that Patterson directed opposition MPs to further their questions to Homestretch Development Inc., and said that he (Patterson) is not answerable for that company.
“However, the following day when the Company Secretary, Larry London, was asked by the Press these very questions, he said he gave Minister Patterson all the information,” Nandlall pointed out.
“Then the President enters the fray and clearly demonstrates either he is out of sync with reality or is trying to mislead the nation. The President says that the Government did not have money to commence work on this project and as time was running out, this company was incorporated to start the work until the Government was able to get funding from its budget.”
Nandlall said however that the Budget was passed in August 2015. “So by September 2015 there was money to be spent by the Government. This company was not incorporated until January 2016. However, massive works started on this project in September 2015. The President’s story therefore, simply does not make sense.”
CONTRADICTION
Nandlall said that Granger conveyed the impression that this is a Government company. He recalled however, Minister Patterson was at pains in the National Assembly to convey the impression that this is a private company for which the Government is not answerable.
“If the company was a Government company as the President claims, why was this not made public for the past eleven months? There are three Directors of this company who have no known connection to the Government. Who are these people? If it was a Government company why did it not receive monies through the constitutional process, that is, via the Parliament?
“Why was the Procurement Act not used, but contractors were handpicked? Where is the Cabinet decision to incorporate this company? Will this company be audited by the Auditor General? We are aware that hundreds of millions of dollars are owed to contractors, who will pay these debts?”
Nandlall said that “irrespective of how it is spun, the financial provisions of the Constitution, several provisions of the Financial Management and Accountability Act and the Procurement Act were all grossly violated and the entire fiasco reeks of corruption, cronyism and criminality”.

cain posted:

Good ting PPP lost Durban Park woulda never happened the funds for that would have been put into some new addititions on Jaggy,s castle,,more electricity generators perhaps three just ain't enough for Da Jags.

Yuh ain't tired singing this same tune?   So far zero ppp jailed for all these alleged stealing that you claim. What is a fact is that the Durban Park monstrosity is now an eyesore. It was a one off for the 50th where Indian businessmen were shook down to pay for poor quality stands just to watch GDF and other idiots parade. Since then no proper use has been found for the monstrosity and people now complaining that they were conned by the PNC. They were expecting durban park to be the sports complex promised by the PPP. 

The Jackass Granger needs Durban Park to graze and shit and do his daily BRAYING!!!!!!!!