Dear Editor,
There have been numerous comments regarding the renting of office space to house all the UN activities in Guyana circulating in the local media. It was my hope that either the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the local UN Chapter would have offered some enlightenment on this issue – sadly neither has seen it fit to shed any further details on this agreement.
I have gone as far as expressing my displeasure to former Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge on the lack of clarity surrounding this agreement, he informed that while he had seen some reference to the matter, he has not examined the comments in detail. However, he agreed that a letter should be penned to hopefully bring some finality to this issue.
I was informed that prior to 2015, an agreement was reached with the PPP government and the UN, for the construction of a permanent UN office, which would house all the various agencies operating in Guyana, however this never materialized. Note, that by 2018, there existed six different agencies (FAO, UNICEF, UNDP, PAHO, UNAIDS & IOM) with a seventh scheduled to become operational in 2019 – all six agencies were housed in different locations). Of these six locations, the Government of Guyana (GoG) owned two of the buildings and paid rental for two others. In addition, the GoG was liable for repairs and maintenance, security, utilities, janitorial costs, and insurance for some of the other locations. These payments were made via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Based on the above, the UN (headed by the former UN Resident Coordinator) with the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (headed by the current Chief of Protocol) began a search for a suitable location to house all seven of the UN agencies. It is important to note, that all the proposed buildings were selected by the local UN staff in association with the UN international security unit. Several possible locations were examined, including the CARICOM Annex on the Railway Embankment, which was unavailable at the time. The Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MoPI) at that time played NO part in identifying locations for the proposed UN House.
After the challenges surrounding the Sussex Street bond, the Cabinet had mandated that since MoPI had the relevant technical staff, property rentals, if necessary, should seek technical inputs from MoPI. A property inspection was conducted by the building and electrical inspectorate departments, who made recommendations to the landlord for corrective works prior to the commencement of the lease. Important to note, is that at the time the property was identified by the UN, it was already leased to an oil and gas company (REPSOL). The landlord, at his own expense, was required to renovate his property in line with the proposed recommendations and relocate the existing tenant company to an alternative location. Note that the landlord was extremely reluctant to make this change in tenancy, but the persuasion of the UN was considered, and he agreed. The underlying message of the UN was that there is no greater honour than the opportunity to be associated with this landlord who is a Guyanese icon.
A lease agreement was proposed by GoG and Blue Wave Apartments Inc. for a three-storey concrete building (21,525 SF), a Great House (7,425 SF) and other offices (1,664 SF) – a total of 30, 614 SF over ten years at a rate of US$68,882.00 per month, with a 1% per annum increase in rental rates from years 8 – 10. Included in this fee was water rates, rates and taxes, security (6am – 6pm) on working days, maintenance of landscaping, car parking, grounds, and other associated external structures.
On agreement of this proposal, the GoG were able to reclaim three buildings, which were allocated to other ministries (former UNDP offices now house the Department of Energy), and be relieved of the responsibility for payments for security, electricity, maintenance, etc. for the other locations, which amounted to almost US$700K per annum. At the time, it was estimated that an additional US$500K per annum would be saved, due to the reallocation of the reclaimed buildings.
Finally, after discussions at the cabinet level, it was agreed that MoPI would be the lessee, rather than Foreign Affairs, as was the previous traditional route, on the simple reasoning that since there was an existing building maintenance department in MoPI, that ministry would be better able to response to any technical issues that might arise during the leasing period.
It is disappointing that the UN and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, would allow a narrative to prevail, that seeks to shed an unfavourable light on one of this country’s musical icons and the former MoPI, based on a lease of a property which they identified and secured. This is not constructive for our country and can certainly contribute to a divided Guyana. Please, let facts prevail.
Regards,
David Patterson
Former Minister of Public
Infrastructure
