With construction already underway on a Chinese-owned housing community in Providence, questions still abound on just how Sunset Lakes Incorporated managed to secure 100 acres of prime virgin land.
The company has set out to build approximately 386 homes in a gated community, dubbed the “New Life Community.”
The housing development project had been under the radar until early October, when Sunset Lakes took to the GuyExpo trade fair to advertise its services. Concerns were immediately raised by Guyanese about just how the company had procured the land and at what cost. Concerns were also raised about any possible links between Sunset Lakes and Chinese company Baishanlin, which is said to be benefiting from numerous concessions from the government.
However, the former company was tightlipped on the issue and maintained in previous interviews that it was in no way associated with Baishanlin. When contacted by Stabroek News about two weeks ago, a representative of the company was hesitant to share any information and instead said that she would confer with her
superiors before responding.
However, subsequent attempts to speak with the company were futile until late last week, when a comment was sought once more. The very representative told this newspaper that her superiors deemed the requested information to be “confidential” and would not be sharing it with the public. Requests on a history of Sunset Lakes were also never met.
When questioned again on any links with Baishanlin, the representative stressed that the companies were not associated. However, when Stabroek News visited Sunset Lakes in October it was noted that the company shared a building with Baishanlin. When this was pointed out, the representative stated that Sunset Lakes had moved out of the building about two weeks ago, while Baishanlin remained there.
During a visit to one of Baishanlin’s sites in Providence, it was also noted by this newspaper that the security guards on site knew the names and locations of employees of Sunset Lakes.
The New Life Community will feature nearly 400 homes available in 4 different models. These homes will start at $55 million and run up to $100 million.
Further, all construction materials are being imported from the USA and Canada, while construction work is being undertaken by the company.
A visit to the community’s Providence site showed a large number of Chinese construction workers already carrying out their duties.
Meanwhile, an investigation launched by main opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) into the land deal between the government and Sunset Lakes is still underway. This is according to APNU MP Joe Harmon, who stated that APNU is not yet ready to make a public statement on its investigations but reassured that the matter is still being pursued. “Of course we’re still pursuing this,” Harmon said. He added, “A lot of these lands, there are a lot of questions about their allocations by the Ministry of Housing and Water. These questions are supposed to be clarified.”
Harmon stated that Minister of Housing Irfaan Ali should give a public account of land transactions between the government and companies. However, the minister is yet to give a proper
explanation, he said.
Harmon further said that in many cases land is being sold to Guyanese before being transferred to foreign companies under the guise of joint venture operations. He added that information received indicated that in these cases land is sold below market price.
“So these people are benefiting more than Guyanese by getting land in what we call the high-end areas of Guyana,” he explained.
APNU’s investigation will aim to unveil all of the details surrounding the deal, including the amount paid for the land along with just when the deal was made between the Asian company and Guyana.
Multiple attempts to contact Minister Ali were unsuccessful.
