It was recently made public that two private sector business entities and an opposition Member of Parliament are indebted to the Guyana National Stadium at Providence. The combined total of monies owed amounts to just over $3 million and in one case the debt goes back some three years.
Manager of the Stadium Anthony Xavier, who would have caused the publicizing of the debt and later confirmed the sums owed and the dates on which they were incurred has seemingly hit a stonewall in his attempts to recoup the money. Neither of the entities—Hits and Jams Entertainment, which owes $1,348,800 nor the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation which has $1,005,000 outstanding—nor opposition MP Odinga Lumumba, whose debt is $673,000 has made any attempts to pay. Instead, Hits and Jams is insisting it owes nothing as it was granted a “concession” by the previous government; Kashif and Shanghai is claiming that there is a discrepancy and Lumumba has accused the Stadium management of discrimination.
It is public knowledge that all three were closely aligned to the previous government; Mr Lumumba’s linkage is by virtue of him having held a presidential advisory post when the PPP/C was in power while he is now one of its MPs in opposition. In the case of Hits and Jams and Kashif and Shanghai, the connection was more subtle.
The perception that Hits and Jams had affiliated itself with the former ruling party had long been out there. It was never confirmed or denied, but members of the then government had always been very visible at Hits and Jams events over the years. The affiliation ceased being speculation when Hits and Jams was favoured with a television station licence and launched Channel 72, replacing the Trinity Broadcasting Network’s gospel feed and later a radio station licence by former president Bharrat Jagdeo in 2011, launching the now-popular 94.1 Boom FM not long after.
It was rumoured that Kashif and Shanghai had enjoyed the same sort of ‘friendly’ relationship with the then PPP/C government as Hits and Jams. Apart from open government endorsement of and financial contributions to its then famous end-of-year football tournament, the organisation never seemed to hit the same stumbling blocks that others did when hosting events. The rumours came home to roost in 2011, when one of the organisation’s principals, Mr Kashif Muhammad displayed on social media a photo of his alleged ballot during the general and regional elections, which indicated that he had voted for the PPP/C. Muhammad had later denied taking the photograph and uploading it to social media, though it had been widely shared.
Given these associations, it is not difficult to see why Mr Lumumba and these organisations would have assumed that they could have used the stadium at no cost to them. However, as former minister of culture Dr Frank Anthony pointed out when he was contacted by this newspaper as regards the claim made by Mr Rawle Ferguson of Hits and Jams that the use of the stadium was a concession his company had received from the then government, if a fee waiver had been granted there would no record of a debt.
Mr Xavier obviously did not dream up these debts, he has records of them in black and white. According to those records, Mr Lumumba and Kashif and Shanghai incurred their debts in April this year. And while it is disconcerting that Mr Xavier waited three years to call out Hits and Jams on the sum it owes the stadium, the fact is that he has done so now and these debts should be settled. If not, the debts would fall to Guyanese taxpayers, some of whom would have shelled out thousands of dollars to attend those events; it would mean that they would be paying twice. Mr Xavier should therefore do all he can to ensure this is done, including taking such legal steps as are necessary.
Meanwhile, perhaps the time is now right to look at the finances of the National Stadium. Its manager indicated that its fee structure has been in place since 2007; possibly it needs adjusting. It was revealed in Parliament that the current government had spent $1 million on maintenance of the stadium in May just prior to the inauguration of President David Granger. This should not be as the stadium is available for rental and generates funds, which ought to go towards its maintenance.
The stadium does not belong to any government but to the people of Guyana. The government is merely the trustee overlooking it and therefore must ensure that those who use it for private gain pay part of what they earn towards its upkeep. That seems only fair.
