April 30,2017 Source

Dear Editor,
Please permit me space in your letter section to expand on an article of 25th April, 2017, “Local Wikileaks? Former Board Member blows whistle on CH&PA’s operations.” I was asked to serve on the Board of CH&PA by Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan for which I am grateful. This appointment, approved by Cabinet was for two years as mandated by the Housing Act. The instrument of appointment was signed by Minister of State Joe Harmon.

For reasons only the Minister of State couldn’t articulate, the life of the Board was terminated six months early. It’s not for me to tell the APNU AFC government ministers how to run their business, but for PR purposes they should stop using the PPPs playbook in carrying out their day to day actions. The Junior Minister within the Ministry Valerie Patterson is on record saying she is bigger than any board and saw a functioning Board as a hindrance to her aspirations. Whatever those might be I do not know. I have never seen any written documentation of her goals, plans or visions. For my service on the board I was compensated $7000 per month and I sometimes claimed taxi money when I attended meetings. Even on one trip to Suriname, no provision was made for per diem! I have uploaded all my communication with management to the internet at www.anticorruptiongy.wordpress.com because I think the public has a right to know what elected and unelected officials are doing purportedly for their benefit. Similarly almost all documents I would have received have also been uploaded. In total this is approximately 7000 pages of information and it is set to appear publicly automatically.

I have no interest in returning to the CH&PA Board or in serving the APNU/AFC government in any capacity. I am not after compensation or rewards for removing the information from the public domain. Persons can read for themselves and will see that corruption and criminal activities are ongoing at CH&PA and are being carried out by elements of the old regime and persons chasing riches under this administration. Minister Valerie Patterson herself is engaged in activities that are highly questionable. These are not easy things to say publicly as I campaigned relentlessly to remove the PPP from government.

If these types of activities represent the new normal by the powers that be, I simply will not allow myself to be part of it. I wrote a letter of resignation from the Board approximately after six months following my appointment and was asked to reconsider by large numbers of persons. I changed my mind and continued working with other members of the Board to bring about positive changes. This received resistance from management, staff and certain persons in the political directorate.
I have no problem with the government terminating the life of the board, legally or illegally. What i do have a problem with is deceitful statements – e.g. they are interested in making state boards more youthful. Progress, however that is defined, was being halted by Board members. Two of the youngest board members were removed – Mark Jacobs and Sherod Duncan.

Two names included in the new list of members are from the same generation as Hamilton Green, who was removed supposedly for being too old. Billions have already been wasted on infrastructure and without proper examination, more money is being spent again to redo some of these same projects. It might come as a shock to some that the same people who oversaw the original waste, have been kept in place to spend more of the public’s money. I can withstand any amount of scrutiny for my work as a Board Member of CH&PA and these documents and files will be a permanent public record. I expect to be victimised and vilified but I stand on solid ground free from fear or want. To paraphrase Kwame Ture, ‘our job is not to make the unconscious but to make them conscious of their unconscious behavior.’ I sat in the public gallery during the reading of the state asset recovery bill. From the looks of things, many on the governing side of the aisle were not conscious. Some were even sleeping.
Mark Jacobs