The State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) will investigate the sale of two Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) transmission towers to Bobby Vieira’s Multicultural Communications Inc for $2.1 million when GuySuCo officials have said that they are worth at least $10 million each.
However, with a backlog of cases and limited human and other resources at the agency, it could be a while before investigations begin.
“Some of these cases goes back years. We have to keep the priorities and schedule going. It [the case] is a priority. All (alleged) corruption is a priority but we have to still rank them because we have limited staff and resources,” Director of SARA, Dr Clive Thomas told Stabroek News in an interview last week.
“All cases of alleged infractions will be investigated and the fact that [the Stabroek News] has put it as a matter of public interest, it will be looked at,” he added.
In February of this year, government’s holding company, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), sold two of GuySuCo’s transmission towers to Multicultural Communications Inc without public tendering. And months after the deal, the two towers have not been removed from their Camp Street and Drill, Mahicony locations with one currently being leased at its present site to a well-known TV cable service provider.
The sale agreement, dated February 1st, 2019, between NICIL and Multicultural Communications Inc, states that Vieira’s company agreed to purchase two transmission towers, located at 199 Camp Street, South Cummingsburg and Drill, Mahaicony, for $2.1 million. It said that the purchaser agreed to remove the items 14 days after the passing of ownership of the properties.
According to the agreement, NICIL would receive payment by way of bank draft and ownership of the properties would be vested in the name of the purchaser “on publication of the vesting order in the Official Gazette.” Up to mid-June, this newspaper did not see such a vesting order in Official Gazette publications from the month of February.
“In addition to GuySuCo not being aware that these items were sold since February of this year, there was no public tender for these, none. There has also been nothing gazetted so we are not sure what is happening with our assets,” a source at GuySuCo with knowledge of the sale told this newspaper in June.
Executives of GuySuCo had written to Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder, questioning the sale by the government holding company when the items were not even vested to NICIL.
“We recently saw a draft Agreement of sale whereby Mr (Colvin) Heath-London through NICIL is in the process of or perhaps has sold GuySuCo’s Transmission Tower located at Drill, Mahaicony to a company named Multicultural Communications Inc.… Again, that property was not vested to NICIL and would be another unlawful act by NICIL,” the letter, seen by this newspaper, stated.
Stabroek News has tried reaching NICIL’s acting Chairman Heath-London, for details about the purchase but to date he has not said anything.
When Vieira was contacted in June, he said, “That is something you need to get from those folks. There is an agreement on the purchase and so forth but anything else on pricing and anything else, they have the information.”
Thomas has assured that SARA will investigate the sale saying that the agency has a mandate to investigate if there was any malfeasance or unlawful conduct involved.
“But we have such a backload of court cases that it is going to take time,” he said, even as he promised that “investigators will be collecting information and putting it on file.”
Thomas lamented that currently a number of cases brought by the agency are stalled at the courts as one case pertaining to the legitimacy of SARA was filed and all litigants are awaiting the outcome of that case.
“We have claims outstanding in the courts for nearly three to four billion dollars and the cases can’t be heard. The main reason for that is most of the defendants are saying, making the legal argument which they are entitled to do, that they wait for the decision by the Chief Justice on the constitutionality of SARA. So that Act is being challenged in the courts so every case we have taken to the court so far has to await the outcome of that decision,” Thomas said.
He related that he has written to Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire about the backlog and also asked for a speedy resolution.
However, he has to date not received any correspondence on the matter but chalks it up to the court being “busy” with elections matters.
“I have written individually, as the Head of SARA, to the Chief Justice and have copied to the other parties – the lawyers and persons they are representing asking for a speedy resolution. That was months ago and I haven’t heard back. It has been a busy season for the courts so I can imagine. The court may very well be busy,” Thomas said.
