Head of the Guyana National Council on Public Policy Dr Phillip Mozart Thomas has declined to comment on a disclosure that a $4M cheque tendered to pay for the use of the Guyana International Conference Centre at Liliendaal for a recent summit bounced.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon on Wednesday announced that the cheque was not honoured by the bank.
Luncheon, GINA added, also said government will be “taking all steps” to recover all monies due to the Centre.
When Stabroek News contacted Thomas, he said all questions should be directed to his lawyers. One of his lawyers, Glenn Hanoman, however, stated that he could not make a pronouncement on the matter at this time.
The summit, which was expected to see civil society in conversation about a change in the constitution, was described by critics as a failure after the invited members of the National Assembly did not turn up at the meeting. The Council was also forced to relocate the summit from the centre because of sudden maintenance problems.
Nonetheless, Thomas maintained that the conference was a success and that the sudden change of events were “state sponsored violence” against his Council to end the summit.
He said that he was hopeful for the National Assembly to put themselves in a “political posture” to meet with the organisation to discuss constitutional change.
The Office of the President had urged the public not to attend the summit and had accused Thomas of being a “shady character” with questionable international connections.
According to GINA, the government had issued a strong statement disassociating itself from the inaugural meeting of the so called “civil society grouping,” which began at the centre on December 17, 2014.
“Government had intimated that the organiser and facilitator of the event, Mr. Thomas was known by several aliases and having misrepresented his credentials and affiliations, appeared to be of questionable character. Checks by several media houses and other stakeholders also corroborated government’s claims about Thomas, after government’s position was made public,” GINA said.
