Dear Editor,
I seek to respond to a letter (‘Jagdeo observed the ten-year condition attached to the transport for Pradoville I land to the letter‘) written by the learned Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr Anil Nandlall, and published by the Stabroek News on September 7, in response to my missive titled ‘The evidence shows that former President Jagdeo got preferential treatment for Pradoville II land,’ published by the Stabroek News on September 4.
In his letter, the Minister restated his two-year-old public clarification about former President Jagdeo adhering to the condition that prohibits within ten years of acquisition, the disposal of house lots purchased from the Government of Guyana (GOG). However, the Minister’s response would have been far more valuable to the public had he not avoided saying under which condition(s) former President Jagdeo was allocated a second house lot having disposed of the first shortly before.
Editor, one of the standard clauses in transports for the purchase of house lots from the GOG states: “Anyone who owns real property is not entitled to purchase a lot. If it is found out that the person had owned real property within the past three years s/he is liable to pay to the GOG or Central Housing and Planning Authority the current market value of the lot or at its option, the GOG will be entitled to repossess the said lot upon the repayment of the purchase money less expenses incurred for repossession.”
Further, Editor, unless, as it seems, the Minister is a student of jumbie or phantom-nomics, then he must have missed the well-articulated letter, by a very close friend of the said Regional Chairman, in response to the SN editorial of October 10, 2011. In that letter it was made known to the public that the Regional Chairman “is a businessman involved in the real estate arena.” (SN, October 17, 2011). To argue, therefore, that “[t]he simple and plain fact is that the Regional Chairman could only have been allocated that for which he made an offer to buy [far less than two acres bought by former President Jagdeo]”, is “[b]y any standard… befuddling logic.” In fact, by all standards, it befits jumbie or phantom-nomics. And unless the Minister provides empirical evidence (or something approximating that) in support of his argument, then he is or must have been a student of the aforementioned discipline.
Editor, the repeated failed attempts by the Minister to have Guyanese believe that any of the persons entitled to land in Pradoville II, could have, but did not, express like former President Jagdeo, the desire to purchase two acres at $5M per acre should be a wake-up call for him that contrary to the way he seems to think, Guyanese are not devoid of the capacity to think and be accurately informed. For instance, in Berbice where I live, scores of persons have indicated to me that the Alliance For Change (of which I am an executive member, as the Minister was seemingly keen to point out) was not concerned with the “pension” of former President Jagdeo, per se, but rather with the uncapped (in other words, the unlimited) provisions under the Former President’s (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act 2009. Therefore reference was made to the “pension package” that amounts to over $3M per month given that, unlike the humble home of former Presidents Cheddi and Janet Jagan, a palace built on two acres of land requires a great amount lighting (thus, a huge electricity bill), will use a great amount of water (hence, a massive water bill), will require a large number of domestic workers in various forms (therefore, a humongous wage bill), etc, all to be paid for by the very poor taxpayers of Guyana. No wonder that public servants and cane-cutters are denied a decent wage increase.
Editor, in his closing arguments in response to my letter, the Minister enquired: “I wonder what is next?” Permit me, Editor, to convey to the Minister that Cheddi Jagan is turning in his grave and he should not wonder why.
In closing, Editor, I too wonder what is next.
Yours faithfully,
Cindy Sookdeo
Region Five
Mahaica/Berbice
