Minister of Finance Winston Jordan yesterday said that the $500 million budgeted to pay debts owed by Homestretch Development Incorporated (HDI) for the controversial D’Urban Park project is the full and final settlement the government is willing to make.
Though Jordan acknowledged that approximately $798 million is owed by the company formed to manage the development of D’Urban Park, he maintains that HDI will have to apportion the $500 million in a manner that will satisfy its creditors who will either accept what is offered or take HDI to court.
“This is a take it or leave it situation,” Jordan told reporters at his ministry’s end-of-year press conference.
He added that government has indicated that it can “only accommodate $500 million as a full and final settlement, so what that means is that HDI would have to make some apportionment relative to the debts owed… If you were owed $2 million by HDI, if they say that you could only get $1.2 million, then you could either accept the $1.2 million as a full and final settlement or you could sue HDI… for the amount that is owing to you.”
The D’Urban Park, which was hailed by the APNU+AFC government as its flagship project, has become mired in controversy as attempts made to secure information about its total cost to the Treasury have so far yielded incomplete answers.
In November, PPP/C Member of Parliament Juan Edghill tabled a motion which called for the government to make a full disclosure of the costs and the individuals and private organisations that were involved in the project from its inception up to the April takeover by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
In presenting the motion to the House, Edghill argued that it was the government’s opportunity to prove to the people of Guyana that it was not corrupt by being transparent about a project which has been shrouded in secrecy.
Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson, whose ministry took responsibility for the project in April, had revealed in the House on August 8 that $150 million provided from the Contingencies Fund completed Phase 1 of the project. At that time, he was defending a request in the Supplementary Financial Paper No 1 of 2016 for an additional $407.6 million from the Contingencies Fund for the project.
Additionally, the 2015 Auditor General’s report stated that $36.509 million from the Lotto Fund went towards the rehabilitation of D’Urban Park without parliamentary approval.
It was not until Edghill’s motion however that the public learned that the first phase of the project had been executed by a private company (HDI).
At that point Patterson told the house that there were no records in the possession of the government of the donations and contributions made to the company. During the consideration of the estimates on December 14, it was revealed that $500 million was budgeted under the Ministry of Public Infratructure’s 2017 Budget to cover the company’s debt.
Patterson told the National Assembly that on November 22, HDI wrote the Finance Ministry asking for assistance with liabilities owed to persons and companies that contributed services and materials for the project.
The minister started reading from a long list of names of contributors to the project, including Baishanlin, Courtney Benn Contracting, BK International, Palm Court, National Hardware, Buxton Gas Station, and Puran Brothers.
But Edghill interrupted him and asked that he provide the names of persons owed, how much was owed, and what works were conducted and the minister did that.
Edghill also demanded to know whether the “project that from all estimation cost $900 milliom of taxpayer money plus $60 million in cash and kind donations can be defined as a project done by private funding.”
He also questioned the procurement process used to engage persons and in response to both questions, Patterson said he could not understand what was being asked.
Even though the $500 million was allocated under his ministry to the debt, the minister pointed out: “The company, HDI, will be paying these persons.”
Edghill then grilled the minister about what process will be used to transfer money from the Consolidated Fund to a private company and commented that this must be a loan.
The minister only responded: “D’Urban Park belongs to the country and the transfer will be made to pay for the asset which the state does have at the moment.”
The government has been severely criticised over the way the project was commissioned and the shadowy nature of HDI. Poor work on D’Urban Park while HDI was in charge resulted in the Ministry of Public Infrastructure having to take it over. Ram and McRae in its 2017 budget review recently called for a full inquiry into all aspects of the project, including the government’s role and that of Homestretch Development Inc and its directors.
