Although several persons have been arrested so far by the police in connection with a housing fraud probe, Minister in the Ministry of Housing, Susan Rodrigues says one employee has been fired on the basis of the evidence provided.
The Minister said that based on supporting evidence, the individual was discovered to have solicited money from persons to expedite their land applications which resulted in the dismissal decision being taken.
She made this disclosure yesterday in response to questions at a press conference held by the ministry at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) in Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.
“The young lady was implicated in the matter and she was taken down to the station for questioning and based on what was relayed to us and investigations, she was involved in these illegal acts which resulted in her services being terminated,” Rodrigues related.
According to the Minister, while the ministry receives complaints from citizens regarding malpractices of employees when issuing land titles these are usually without evidence. As such, there is nothing much the Ministry of Housing or the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) could do to address these complaints since they are simply allegations. She also stressed that an employee cannot be terminated based solely on allegations.
“There were several allegations levelled at several staff members, but you would appreciate that we cannot take definitive action based on allegations. We would examine these individuals more closely. There were engagements with them, and they were interviewed in-house to find out if they were willing to offer any explanations as to why these allegations are being made against them but, if you don’t have proof of any corrupt activities, we cannot just to terminate somebody based on allegation.”
Commenting on the subject, Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, encouraged Guyanese who have been lured into paying bribes in exchange for house-lots to “come forward.”
Rodrigues added that the matter involving the female employee who was sacked is currently before the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
“We were able to get evidence on one employee. She was arrested; she was questioned and I believe put on bail. The last I know is that the file is with the DPP. So, I assume the police is waiting for the return of that file before charging her.”
Although ministry employee, Naresh Sugrim had allegations levelled against him on social media, the Minister affirmed that Sugrim remains on the job, due to lack of supporting evidence.
“That employee that you say that I defended, I merely presented the facts. That employee was the employee who was approached by the other employee, who was subsequently arrested. So, he facilitated the investigation with the police. When she approached him to set up a scheme to help her get house lots allocated to other people, he reported the matter to me. I advised him to report it immediately to the police. We called in the police, we gave all the information to the police and the sting was set up,” Rodrigues said in response to the question posed by Stabroek News.
According to Croal, the CH&PA and by extension the entire Ministry of Housing, have recommended several measures be put in place to prevent corrupt practices.
Applications can be traced online, and the Minister reminded that allocations are only done at the level of Land Administra-tion and not by junior staffers.
Rodrigues back in November last year had addressed via social media, the issues concerning accusations of malpractice pertaining to the issuing of land titles and house lots.
The statement read: “Over the last few days on social media, there has been an avalanche of allegations levelled against employees of the Ministry of Housing and Water about corrupt transactions. From the outset, the tenor of the posts immediately suggested that they would not end until the political heads of the Ministry were linked in some way to the allegations.
“Yesterday, a member of my secretariat, Naresh Sugrim, was implicated in these social media posts. His photo was published, along with the allegation that he has been receiving bribes in exchange for land. Not a shred of evidence was provided, yet he was tried and convicted in the court of public opinion.
“Unbeknown to the public, on my instruction, Mr Sugrim has been assisting the Guyana Police Force in an investigation to uncover solid evidence against staff members or outsiders who were suspected of conducting illegal transactions. Today, his efforts have led to the arrest of several persons. This will no doubt assist the police to further their investigations. Unfortunately, the reckless and vindictive postings on social media, which prove nothing, have compromised months of tedious investigative work which could have potentially led to more arrests.
“I have always maintained that I am committed to rooting out corruption. In this regard, strident steps were taken to work with the Police to address this wherever it exists in the Ministry. Regrettably, members of the public continue to encourage the practice of offering bribes and willingly participate in these illegal transactions. When they lose their money without receiving the favours they expected, they take to social media to complain, instead of going to the police”.
