Former President Bharrat Jagdeo says that it is unfair to calculate the profits made on homes sold by ministers in the controversial Pradoville 2 Housing Scheme by using the value of the empty land as the base.
“They did not sell a land. They sold a land and a house. They bought the land from the government so when you talk about this 2000 percentage profit margin you are comparing the selling price (of land and house) with the land price,” Jagdeo said in defence of his former ministers yesterday.
He believes that the public calculations of the profits made when his ministers sold their homes do not do justice to the fact that they spent millions building houses on the land.
“They talk about the ministers selling and how they sell the land at 2000 times the price … but it’s not the land they sold alone. Remember, they had to buy a land and fill up the land, build a house on it. The house costs money too,” he posited.
According to a report recently completed by the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) and seen by Stabroek News, the Pradoville 2 lands on the East Coast of Demerara were sold to former ministers and known friends and associates of the previous regime. “At the time of the sale, the lands were grossly undervalued and sold substantially lower than the market value for the land thereby depriving the state of its full benefits,” it said, while noting that the lands were sold for $114 per square foot.
The ministers who were said to have benefited are Jennifer Westford, Priya Manickchand, Clement Rohee and Robert Persaud.
Jagdeo owns almost two acres of land in the scheme, where he currently lives.
The report also noted that transfers and subsequent sales of properties had conditions attached, including that the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) would have to sign off on any sale before 10 years of ownership.
The report said Manickchand sold her land and house to Dave Naraine for $100 million on February 21, 2013, three years after the purchase of the land, without any written permission from the CH&PA. The report added that Persaud’s land was transferred into the names of relatives and later sold on September 18, 2014 for $90 million without any written permission from CH&PA.
Jagdeo pointed out that he would not say much on the issue as it is sub judice but stressed that the public has an incorrect understanding of the transactions. He said too that government was using the Pradoville 2 issue as “cover of their own salary issue.”
“This is not a new issue… They know I was living there for four years, now they know the price I paid? Every time they run into trouble, they sought to fast forward the issue to knock the salary issue off of the radar with this,” he said.
“They said at one stage that CH&PA had nothing to do with this and it was done by NICIL. Then they say they breach CH&PA procedures. …So what I see they calculating the selling price and dividing the selling price by the price of the land to come up with the percentage,” he said.
“So when you talk about this 2000 percentage profit margin you are comparing the selling price with the land price, not with the house build on it, and it is unfair …what may seem like a 2000 per increase if you compare it to the land might just be a 20 or 30 percent that they make,” he added.
Jagdeo believes that only ministers of the past administration are getting flak for their acquisition of property in the area and some who are aligned to the David Granger administration are not. “If you are a Gary Best you get a free pass,” he asserted, referring to the former Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, who is now a presidential adviser. Best also lives on property he would have obtained in the housing scheme while he headed the army.
Jagdeo urged government that if illegalities are found during professional audits the culpable should be prosecuted
“Our point is clear. If the audits are done by professionals, objectively, and there is evidence of wrongdoings, then the police should be called in and criminal proceedings take place against people…,” he said.
