Arguing that the allocation of lands at ‘Pradoville 2’ was an act of fraud and in breach of the constitution, the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) is asking the High Court to strip former President Bharrat Jagdeo and six other persons of the ownership of the plots sold to them in 2010.
“…Jagdeo, a Cabinet member, in benefitting from his own decision, when he participated in a Cabinet Decision to allocate State assets to a class of persons which would include himself was in breach of his Constitutional duty to uphold the Constitution and to act in the best interest of all the People of Guyana, for reasons inter alia he was in a position of conflict of interest in which he participated and acted in his own personal interest,” the court documents in one of two civil recovery cases initiated against Jagdeo states.
Last Friday, a total of eight cases were filed and SARA officials on Monday indicated that more matters will be filed before the year ends.
Listed as the defendants in separate proceedings are Jagdeo, former Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, former Education Minister Shaik Baksh, Lisaveta Ramotar, who is the daughter of former president Donald Ramotar, businessman Ramesh Dookhoo, former University of Guyana Chancellor Professor Compton Bourne, and Florrie Loretta Ramnauth.
Two suits were filed against Jagdeo as he was allocated two parcels of land, while the remaining defendants have one each. The Registrar of Lands, who it is alleged unlawfully passed the title to the land without the consent of the registered proprietor being a party to the transaction, is listed as the second defendant in each of the cases, while SARA is the claimant.
In the court actions, SARA’s in-house attorney Ronald Bostwick is asking for identical claims and lists similar grounds. The court is being asked to grant an order restraining the defendant and/or his servants howsoever from disposing, attempting to dispose, encumbering and or attempting to encumber, dealing with and or attempting to deal with the respective properties; an order setting aside the Certificate of Title; a Civil Recovery Order transferring the respective properties to the Asset Manager or such other person as the Court may deem or determine; and such further or other relief as the Court deems just and costs.
The cases, which concern parcels 241, 246,175,240, 243,174,183 and 173, were filed after the closure of an initial window for out-of-court settlements came to an end. The court is expected to soon fix a date and assign a judge for the hearing of the cases.
SARA, in its claim, states that in relation to parcel 246, the passing of that title to Jagdeo by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) was unlawful for the reason that it was contrary to and in violation of the provisions of the Land Registry Act to transfer a registered interest without the knowledge and consent of the registered proprietor.
According to the claim, the passing of the title without the consent or knowledge of the registered proprietor, “was an act of fraud, dishonesty and done with intent to defraud the State.”
Further it states that the former president’s actions breached his fiduciary duty to the state and the people of Guyana and were dishonest. “…Jagdeo, by bypassing the legally required process for the passing of Title to Parcel 246 Plantation Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara was in breach of his fiduciary duties and the Laws of Guyana,” the claim says, while adding that the then Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali committed an act of dishonesty and engaged in fraudulent conduct by requesting and or instructing the transfer of the title to Jagdeo, “when he was aware or ought properly to have been aware that the CH&PA was not the registered proprietor.”
‘Privileged group’
The claim against Jagdeo states, too, that the decision of the Cabinet members to participate in a Cabinet decision to allocate State assets to a class of persons was a constitutional breach and was made in their own personal interest.
“The decision of Cabinet to allot land to a small group of individuals instead of for the benefit of the greatest number of Guyanese, was a breach of each individual member’s Constitutional duty to uphold the Constitution and act in the best interest of all the People of Guyana,” it adds, while noting that the Housing Minister also acted unlawfully by not fulfilling his supervisory authority over CH&PA, and also not ensuring that CH&PA acted in accordance with the provisions of the Housing Act.
According to the claim, Jagdeo’s parcel 246 was one of 19 lots, which totalled 15.25 acres, and was transferred by the Guyana government, through CH&PA. It said that the land was initially owned by the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) but in 2004 government purported to transfer all the corporation’s assets to the National Communications Network Inc. (NCN). Both entities are state-owned.
According to the claim, the land in question was surveyed several times between 2005 and 2010, including a few times at the behest of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited/ Privatisation Unit (NICIL/PU).
“At the 19th Board meeting of NICIL/PU, held on Thursday 16 August 2007, the then Executive Director, Mr. Winston Brassington, reported to the Board that there were 15 acres of land at Sparendaam which were good for sale. He further recommended that the land would be ideal for high income house lots, townhouses or condominiums…,” the claim states.
At the date of their sale, the aggregate value of the sold parcels of land was $246,639,868 as is evidenced by the Appraisal Report of Hugo Curtis, valuation surveyor, dated November 28th, 2017.
Jagdeo paid $9,335,500 for parcel 246, which measures 1.5 acres. According to some of the other claims seen by Stabroek News, Bourne and Ramotar paid $1,515,000 for parcels 240 and 174, each measuring 0.3030 acres, while Baksh paid $1.5 million for parcel 173, which also had a measurement of 0.3030.
On March 9th, 2010 after being previously included in a Cabinet Memorandum, the Sparendaam land was discussed. At that meeting, which saw 18 ministers in attendance, a decision was taken that “Government would create a Housing Development on the aforementioned land vested in the NCN, and that the land should be vested in CH&PA.”
Further, the claim states that it “is the duty of the President and the Ministers whose functions may include the management, dealings and or distribution of, the State’s assets to ensure that all decisions taken are made in the best interest of the State and People of Guyana. The decision of the Cabinet to allocate and distribute the aforementioned properties at prices which were below the then current valuation to a restricted group of persons with significant financial resources deprived the State and the people of Guyana of the optimal benefit of the State’s asset and consequentially caused the State and the people of the Guyana to lose consideration and or value on the disposal of the State’s assets.”
The claim adds, “The purported transfer of the State’s assets to a restricted and limited group of persons of privilege and considerable financial worth at values below their assessed market value without any purported benefit to the State was a disposal of the State’s assets to a selected privileged group at a considerable financial and other disadvantage to the State and People of Guyana.”
Further, it states that while the CH&PA has existing guidelines for the allocation of housing lots to persons, these were not followed in the case of the ‘Pradoville 2” allottees. Included in the guidelines listed in the claim is the fact that there must be an existing application for the land being sought and that the applicant must not be a property owner.
The claim goes on to explain that the CH&PA’s Land Allotment Manual sets out the procedures by which an applicant can apply for government lands under its control. Among these are that following the submission of an application and an acknowledgment of same, the applicant will be invited for an interview to ascertain eligibility for a very low, low or middle income lots.
It was stressed that the statutory role of the Authority is to provide housing for the working class in the three categories listed above, the price range of the lots ranging from at least $59,400 to between $500,000 and $1.2 million, while the largest size allocated is 50 x 100 ft., which is equivalent to 5,000 sq. ft. or 0.1147 acre. According to the claim, the smallest lot available for transfer in ‘Pradoville 2’ was 0.2383 acre or 10,380 sq. ft. while the largest was 1.5 acres or 65,340 sq. ft.
Further, it was explained that the only high income lots ever advertised by CH&PA were related to a re-migrant scheme located in Providence Gardens. The smallest parcel, which measured 5,000 ft. had a price tag of $4 million, while the largest lot measured 8,000 ft. and could be acquired for $7 million.
The claim, explained that after the Cabinet decision was finalised, infrastructural work began to prepare the roads, the drainage and irrigation, electricity and water supply, and demarcate the lots.
‘No vesting order for transferral’
It was pointed out that no vesting order transferring the ‘Pradoville 2’ land from NCN to CH&PA was ever effected.
“The aforementioned land could only lawfully have been vested and transferred upon the issuance of a signed and Gazetted Vesting Order. No such signed vesting order was ever issued,” it states.
The claim explains that in 2010, the then Chief Executive Officer of CH&PA Myrna Pitt set out the process by which the land was to be transferred to CH&PA, along with the manner and steps by which that land should have been allotted to applicants.
The claim lists a 42- part process which culminates with the issuance of the certificate of title to the allottee.
It says, too, that Ali requested Esther Stephen, CH&PA staffer, in 2010 to deliver a sealed yellow envelope to the Registrar of Lands, Juliet Sattaur. “That Esther Stephen took the package to the Registrar and handed it over to her. That either the same day or the day after, she was asked by Minister Mohamed Irfaan Ali to go to the Registrar to collect a package. That when Esther Stephen went back to the Land Registry to meet the Registrar, the Registrar told her that she had to sign for the Certificates of Title and take them back to Minister Ali…Esther Stephen signed for the Certificates and took a sealed envelope and handed it over to Minister Mohamed Irfaan Ali,” it said.
According to the claim, NICIL/PU spent between $71.4 million and $85.1 million on development works in the scheme
“…These monies were spent by NICIL/PU in furtherance of their mandate from Cabinet to do all things necessary for the Development’s completion, as stated in the Cabinet Decision…That NICIL/PU acted unlawfully by not adhering to the Constitutional and Statutory manner of appropriation and expenditure of Funds,” the claim says, before adding that Cabinet also acted unlawfully in authorising NICIL to carry out the works.
