The Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) has returned the draft final report of an audit investigation into the spending associated with the controversial D’Urban Park project with its comments to the Audit Office and has said it had no responsibility for the project prior to April 9, 2016.
The MPI made this known in a letter to this newspaper on Tuesday in response to an article on the issue which was published in the February 3rd edition of this newspaper.
Auditor General Deodat Sharma had told this newspaper that his office was still awaiting the return of the document which was sent to MPI, according to him, in November last year. On that same day this newspaper contacted MPI’s Public Relations Officer, Krest Cummings for a comment but none was forthcoming between then and the publication of the article.
Based on MPI’s letter, the document was returned to the Audit Office the day after this newspaper spoke to Cummings.
Now that the Audit Office is in receipt of the document, this newspaper understands that the report will now be finalised before it is tabled in National Assembly.
In its letter to this newspaper MPI said it had no responsibility for expenditure relating to the project prior to April 9, 2016 and claimed that 84 vouchers it had submitted as part of the investigation in January and February 2017 are yet to be returned.
The ministry noted that the documents appear to be the main source of information in the conduct of the audit and also pointed to the submission of the report more than two years after the documents were initially collected. This indicated that the audit took almost two years to complete, but the Ministry was never meaningfully engaged to offer explanations, the letter said, before stressing that the ministry took over the project from April 9, 2016.
“The responsibility for expenditure under the purview of Homestretch Development Inc. (HDI), as well as funds paid through the ‘Lotto Fund’ were ascribed to the Ministry. Due diligence checks would have clearly outlined the distinction between the two entities and the responsible agency for the Lotto Fund payments,” the Ministry said before stressing that it had no responsibility for expenditure relating to the D’Urban Park Project prior to April 9, 2016.
It was on April 9, 2016, that the Ministry was “given the directive” to complete the project after it was observed that the works were behind schedule, MPI said adding that the Ministry was not responsible for any expenditure prior to that date, which originated from the Lotto Fund and Homestretch Development Inc. (HDI)
“Notwithstanding, the Ministry delivered all vouchers requested by the Audit Office with relevant schedules for scrutiny. However, if it is required, the Ministry could provide additional information upon request,” MPI assured.
Further, MPI in its letter clarified that its Permanent Secretary received the draft report on December 7, 2018 with a request for a response within 30 days.
Subsequently, the Ministry requested an extension owing to the involvement of staff in preparation for the Ministry’s Budget presentation in the National Assembly last December and such an extension was granted by the Auditor General. The said report outfitted with comments were hand delivered to the Audit Office on Tuesday, January 29, 2019 and signed for by one D. James.
Transformation
In November of 2015, then Governance Minister Raphael Trotman had announced that Cabinet had given the go ahead for contracts for the transformation of D’Urban Park into a “Green Zone Recreational Park,” in time for Guyana’s 50th anniversary celebrations the following year.
Larry London was subsequently revealed to be a part owner of HDI, the company which started the project. It was later learnt that then Education Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine was also a director of HDI. President David Granger had defended his involvement with the company, saying that the minister’s role was only to represent the government’s interests.
From all indications, HDI, through donations both from local persons and those in the diaspora, commenced work at the site in September, 2015, about two months before government officially announced what was happening there. It was subsequently handed over to MPI.
Over $1 billion has been spent on the project – a large parade ground with wooden stands – and despite this, the National Assembly has been asked to approve millions in extra-budgetary spending to meet additional costs.
A special investigation was launched in early 2018 and the preliminary findings were included in the 2017 Auditor General’s report on the public accounts of Guyana, which was presented to the National Assembly late last year. At that point, the investigations were still ongoing.
In addition to tapping into the Contingency and Lotto funds, the MPI sourced money from its road works and infrastructure development budgets to complete the project.
The report stated that up to December 31st, 2017, amounts totaling almost $1.150 billion were spent on the project.
Providing a breakdown, the report states that in 2015, $36,509,000 was sourced from the Lotto Fund, while in 2016, $60,394,000 came from Infrastructural Develop-ment under MPI; $118,124,000 from Maintenance of Roads under MPI, and sums of $150 million and $256,758,000 from the Contingency Fund. In 2017, $500 million was sourced from Infrastruc-tural Development and $28,215, 000 from Maintenance of other Infrastructure. The grand total of these amounts is $1,149,997,000. The 2017 report did not expand on the money taken directly from the ministry.
The 2015 figure was referenced in that year’s Auditor General’s report, which noted that no approval was given for the use of that money and it was also noted that $107.119M worth of payment vouchers were not produced for audit examination.
The report stated that while the sum of $500 million was paid to HDI in 2017 by MPI to enable it to meet its obligation to its creditors, there was no documentation attached to the Payment Vouchers to indicate the works done.
