THE Board of Directors of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) has completed the report into the missing US$5M reportedly paid by Chinese company Datang Telecom Technology and Industry Group for the sale of the state’s 20 per cent shares in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Limited (GTT).Speaking to reporters on Monday night at the National Cultural Centre, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said the full report is ready, and will be released soon.

“I went there as a representative (of) the Board of NICIL and they have a full report. The Chairman of NICIL will release that report very soon,” he said.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon

The Chinese company had purchased Government’s 20 per cent shares in GTT for US$30M in 2012, but the company paid only US$25M. Minister of State Joseph Harmon and NICIL’s in-house attorney Natalia Seepersaud visited China a few weeks ago and engaged in discussions pertaining to the outstanding US$5M owed for the shares.

Asked whether the report revealed who received the money reportedly paid to the Government of Guyana by the Chinese company, Minister Harmon said, “I can’t say who has the money.”

He said he was sure the money was not paid to NICIL. “What I do know for sure is that the money hasn’t been paid. That is for sure. That is as much as I can tell you,” Minister Harmon disclosed.

At a post-Cabinet press briefing held at the Ministry of the Presidency on April 20, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Raphael Trotman, said the administration is currently trying to locate the US$5M outstanding to the Government.

Trotman told the media Minister Harmon discovered that the money was paid to NICIL before May 16 last year. It is unclear to whom specifically the money was paid.

“What I can say is that Mr Harmon has been able to retrieve some documents which tell a different story, and that story is 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,” Minister Trotman said.
Former President Donald Ramotar has denied that the US$5M owed by the Chinese company had been paid over to his administration prior to the May 11, 2015 general elections.

“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, so that the veracity of the evidence can be tested and authenticated,” the former President has said.