FORMER President Donald Ramotar yesterday said that Chinese company Datang Telecom Technology and Industry Group has not paid the outstanding US$5M owed to the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) for its purchase of government’s shares in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) in 2012. He accused the APNU+AFC administration of lying when it said that documents have shown that the US$5M owed by the Chinese company was paid.

On Wednesday, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Raphael Trotman told the media at a post-cabinet press briefing that it was discovered by Minister of State Joseph Harmon that the Chinese company did indeed pay the outstanding amount owed.

The Chinese company bought government’s 20 per cent shares in GTT in 2012 for US$30M. However, only US$25M was paid to NICIL immediately. The remaining US$5M was to be paid within two years after the purchase.

Ramotar, in a statement yesterday, said the announcement by government that the money was paid, but that it is uncertain as to who had collected the money is “suspicious” to say the least. The former president said the “sudden claim that the US$5m owed for the GTT shares was paid to entities/persons other than NICIL” is strange. He called the administration out for what he believes to be lies uttered regarding the said issue.

Present the “documents”

“The claim by the APNU+AFC Gov’t that the money was received is a lie and I challenge the Government to present the “documents” it has received (under suspicious and questionable circumstances) so that the veracity of the evidence can be tested and authenticated,” said Ramotar, who served as president for four years from 2011.

Trotman told the media that it was discovered that the payment of the US$5M was made to NICIL before May 2015, before the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration had demitted office.

Different story
“What I can say is that Mr. Harmon has been able to retrieve some documents which tell a different story and that story being that the $5 million was paid and we are trying to track down to whom, when and where and that was before May 16, 2015,” said Minister Trotman.
He said too that the Minister of State provided a “full report” on the issue to Cabinet, while noting that NICIL’s board is currently examining the findings. That report is to be made public soon.

Legal recourse

“This is not true! Under my presidency, the 20% GT&T share sale transaction was executed between NICIL and Hong Kong Golden Telecom Limited for the total price of US$30m. It was never hidden that US$25m was received and that the purchaser was given two years to pay the balance of US$5m. It was also publicly disclosed by NICIL that efforts were being made to pursue legal recourse in the UK to collect the outstanding balance (refer to Stabroek News December 18, 2015),” Ramotar said in response to the statement made by Trotman.

He noted that under his leadership, there was never a reason to doubt NICIL’s “competent technical staff” who indicated that the US$5M was outstanding and that efforts were being made to retrieve same.

According to Ramotar, if the US$5M had been paid over, it would be easy to prove as “the only entity that was and is authorised to receive any monies from the purchaser for this transaction was NICIL.”

Had NICIL received the outstanding payment, then a receipt or banking documentation would be in the possession of the entity, he maintained.

“Any claim that some other entity or person received this money would also be easy to prove or disprove,” the former President added.

He believes that “the Government’s insinuation that the money was paid to someone else or some other entity other than NICIL prior to the May 2015 elections is a distraction from the real issues.”

Digression
Ramotar stressed that the claim by government that the money has been paid is an effort to digress from answering the “people’s demands for explanations on who really paid for the trip to China, the naming of the ‘honorific’ advisors and party contributors, and demands for decisive actions against the increase in crime in our country.”

He said too that the current administration has accused the former PPP/C administration of “massive corruption,” but this is yet to be proven.

“This latest claim is an expected APNU+AFC political ploy to appeal to people’s emotions rather than seeking the truth,” Ramotar added.