Chief Co-operatives Deve-lopment Officer Kareem Abdul-Jabar has moved to the High Court challenging what he contends are unlawful attempts to discipline him for his role in the sale of a disputed Lamaha Gardens property, which he maintains was at all times above board.
Abdul-Jabar, through his lawyer Roysdale Forde, has obtained nisi orders from acting Chief Justice Ian Chang against the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security Lorene Baird as well as the Public Service Commission (PSC), who would now have to show cause why the decisions they took should not be overturned.
As part of his supporting documentation for his motion to the High Court, Abdul-Jabar included his report on the land sale, which he said took place two years after he cancelled the registration of the “dormant” Civil Service Association (CSA) Co-operative Housing Society. The 5,500 sq ft property was sold in January this year, leading an outcry by residents who said it belonged to the community. President Donald Ramotar subsequently asked the Labour Ministry to probe the sale.
Abdul-Jabar was sent on administrative leave last month and attempts were then made to have him appear before an inquiry panel in relation to the Lamaha Gardens property. He was subsequently cited by the PSC for “disobedience” for failing to appear before the panel as well as for “malpractices with fraudulent intent” and “dishonesty in official dealings,” based on a report done on the property sale, and he was invited to respond to the charges.
Following Abdul-Jabar’s application, Justice Chang made the preliminary order against Baird over her decision to send Abdul-Jabar on administrative leave and against the PSC over its decision to approve sending him on leave and charging him with breaches of the Disciplinary Code of the Public Service. Abdul-Jabar contends that the decisions were “unlawful, ultra vires, irrational, unreasonable, wholly in excess of jurisdiction, null, void and of no legal effect, in breach of the Public Service Commission Rules of 1998, in breach of and a denial of the principles of Natural Justice and legitimate expectations….”
He also secured a preliminary order against Baird and/or the PSC over the decision to establish a disciplinary committee comprised of Public Service Ministry Permanent Secretary Hydar Ally, Local Government Ministry Permanent Secretary Colin Croal and Social Services Ministry Deputy Permanent Secretary Patrick Findlay. Baird and the PSC will also have to defend the decision to establish and constitute an Inquiry Panel consisting of the Ally, Croal and Findlay and PSC will have to also show why it should not be prohibited from proceeding to hear and determine disciplinary charge or charges against Abdul-Jabar, who contends that they breached the Public Service Commission Rules and were premised upon an unlawful decision.
The PSC and Baird will have to defend the decisions before Justice Chang on March 19.
In his supporting affidavit, Abdul-Jabar said he was sent on leave with immediate effect by Baird by way of letter dated February 4, 2013. He noted that he was also asked to submit a comprehensive report on the land sale.
Abdul-Jabar said he did so and subsequently on he received a letter, dated February 21, from Findlay, who invited him to attend a hearing before an inquiry panel the next day as it pertains to the sale. But Abdul-Jabar said he instructed his attorney to write a letter to Findlay on the same day indicating that he would be unable to attend the meeting and also requesting a copy of any authority under the Public Service Commission Rules that permit the holding of the inquiry. There was no reply to his lawyer’s letter, he said, but he later received a letter, dated February 25 and signed by J. Jaigobin, Secretary of the PSC, which stated that he failed to appear before the Disciplinary Committee, set up to investigate the allegations against him for malpractices associated with the land sale, on February 21 and 22. The letter informed him that he was in breach of the PSC’s Disciplinary Code and the commission having earlier reviewed a report from the Labour Ministry that found that he breached two disciplinary codes dealing with malpractices with fraudulent intent and dishonesty in official dealings.
Abdul-Jabar in the same letter was asked to respond to the charges by February 27, failing which the PSC would proceed with the matter in his absence. He said that the time was extremely short and he sought and obtained seven days to reply to the charges.
Land sale
In the supporting documents attached to his motion was the letter sent by Baird informing of the decision to send him on leave as a result of discussions about the sale of the land, which previously belonged to the CSA Co-operative Housing Society.
She indicated that the decision to send him on leave arose from the discussion and his explanations regarding his decision to cancel the registration of CSA Co-operative Housing Society, the sale of the land which she said was donated to the Mayor & City Council and the authority for his opening and operating a bank account outside of the ministry’s control without any prior notification and approval by the relevant authority.
Abdul-Jabar, in his report on the sale and his response to Baird’s letter, pointed out that at the Annual General Meeting held on April 21, 1986, it was unanimously resolved that the CSA Co-operative Housing Society be wound up. In addition, he noted that an inspection of the society was done in May of 2011, which found that it was dormant as of 2001, and as a result a cancellation order was made in June of 2011, followed by a Liquidation Order.
Abdul-Jabar further stated in his report that there was no legal documentation to show that the land was donated to the Mayor and City Council, except for an observation that was made in an audit report of 1998. “If the land was donated to the City Council it is difficult to understand, how the Society is being called upon to pay rates and taxes to the owner. I find this very difficult to accept,” he said.
He added that investigations revealed that a number of house lots were stated as vacant and when a site visit was made it was discovered that houses were built on these lands, including the lands that were designated for a play field, a school and other community purposes, while no record of ownership could be found at the Deeds Registry or at City Council. As a result, he said he instructed the liquidator to take possession of all lands that are unoccupied and still in the name of the Society and dispose of them “to prevent any reoccurrence of what can be regarded as seemingly illegal transactions with regards to the assets of the Society.”
According to Abdul-Jabar, a valuation was done for the property and an ad was placed in the daily newspapers for tenders, which were received and evaluated, leading to the award to Terrence Taljit, who bid $29M.
According to supporting documentation, Taljit was one of the seven persons who submitted bids for the land. The others who submitted bids were S. Rupee, who bid $28.5M; Latchmin Punasi $5.7M; Albert Allen, $5.4M; Veronica Ritchie, $6.4M; Yoganand Mahadeo, $6.5M; and Michael Daniels, $6.3M.
Recently, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) claimed to be the owner of the property, and said it became aware of the move to sell the land in November last year, when a notice, inviting bids by November 23, 2012, was placed in the Guyana Chronicle by Liquidator Cecil Ramnarine.
The union released a cease and desist letter that its attorney Joseph Harmon had sent to Ramnarine, dated November 20, 2012, in order to prevent him from moving ahead.
In his letter to Ramnarine, Harmon identified himself as the lawyer for the Civil Service Association Cooperative Housing Society
