Chairman of the Alliance for Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan yesterday said based on the explanations provided by party member and Minister of Telecommunications Cathy Hughes, he sees nothing wrong with the award of contracts to a company owned by her.
“I doesn’t see anything deleterious about it. I don’t see anything damaging about it in the circumstances of Cathy Hughes, Minister of Telecommunications, making the relevant declarations and coming very transparently with it,” Ramjattan told a press conference yesterday, while noting that Hughes was not actively participating in the operations of the company, Videomega productions.
Last week, the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) alleged that the minister’s company benefitted from over $10 million in contracts from six ministries, including her own. The company has since refuted the claims and released some invoices to support its position that only a commission was earned on ads placed in the media for the ministries.
Previously, the PPP accused Hughes and Videomega of impropriety in relation to an $832,200 contract from the Department of Energy for the production of three 60-second television Public Service Announcements.
Asked by Stabroek News at a party press conference yesterday about the new claims, Ramjattan stressed that Hughes made statements indicating that the company had benefitted from certain contracts but there was just a commission.
“I understand the company is largely managed by Russel Lancaster. She has nothing to do with the company… she has disassociated [from] active participation in that company and so I do not see where the conflict of interest is. That’s my opinion. She’s made the declaration, she has disassociated herself from the management of it…,” he said.
He also questioned why the company cannot be awarded contracts.
Asked if the party has engaged her on this matter, Ramjattan responded, “We do not engage our ministers like that. When there is something egregious, we will certainly do. But we do not find anything egregious about this at all and so why should we go engaging her? And that’s the end of the matter.”
Ramjattan also said he takes the same stance with regards to former Housing Minister Valarie Adams-Yearwood, who was reassigned to the Ministry of Agriculture after it was disclosed that her husband was awarded several housing contracts. According to him, her reassignment is in order.
“That is the same position I would have. I understand that she has explained her position… Her explanations have indeed been accepted by me and I think that in the interest of the public it is necessary then as the president indicated she should be put in another [ministry],” he said.
Adams-Yearwood’s husband, Godfrey Yearwood, was granted contracts from the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), which fell under her authority. At least one of the contracts was issued after Yearwood married the Minister in August of 2017.
She has said she had no hand in the award of the contracts to her husband and that she only became aware of them when he informed her.
Adams-Yearwood is now the Junior Agriculture Minister with responsibility for Rural Affairs.
President David Granger said on Thursday that the reassignment was done in the public’s interest.
Invoices
While the opposition PPP claimed last week that Hughes’ company was paid $10 million for several contracts, Videomega Productions on Wednesday released several invoices showing that only a 15% commission was earned on advertisements placed in the media for several government ministries, including Hughes’ ministry.
Hughes has sought to dismiss concerns about potential conflict of interest by saying that she has relinquished day-to-day management of the company. Critics have, however, pointed out that as the owner of the company she will benefit from the business that Videomega conducted on behalf of her ministry and other government entities. There have also been contentions about whether the ministerial Code of Conduct in the Integrity Commission Act has been transgressed.
In its statement on Wednesday, Videomega noted that it had committed on April 25th to provide copies of invoices to debunk PPP claims that it had received $10 million. It provided four invoices for services to the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Public Telecommunications and the Ministry of Public Health.
Videomega said for the four invoices, totalling $3,659,981, its 15% agency commission totalled $481,577. The tax invoice for the Ministry of Public Telecommunications was in respect of the placement of ads for the Caribbean ICT Road Show. Ads were placed by Videomega with Stabroek News, the Guyana Chronicle, the Kaieteur News and the Guyana Times, totalling $1,156,336.
The contract between Videomega and the Ministry of Public Telecommunications will likely raise questions as to how Videomega was selected for the task and whether other advertising agencies were offered the opportunity to undertake this business.
The tax invoice for the Ministry of Natural Resources was addressed to Administrator Beverley Alert. Alert is a former employee of Videomega. The ads placed were in relation to World Water Day 2018. Ads were placed for the Ministry of Public Health for the Tobacco Legislation Media Campaign.
The matter of Videomega’s business with the government was first brought to light by the PPP, which released information about PSAs for the DoE. There was no public advertisement for these PSAs. Lancaster had said in a statement that he was contacted in his personal capacity in relation to the PSAs and he was the one who suggested that the contract should go to Videomega. He stated that the contract was secured without the minister’s knowledge.
In addressing the most recent allegations by the PPP, Videomega outlined the procedures it followed in the placement of the ads and said it only earned commissions. It also said the management of the business since May 2015 had been in the hands of Lancaster.
In its statement last week, the PPP had said that Videomega had three contracts with Hughes’ ministry and five others with the Ministries of Public Infrastructure, Business, Education, Natural Resources and Public Health.
The concerns raised about a possible conflict of interest has led to a call from the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc for a clear policy on the ownership of private enterprises by Ministers of Government.
“When you move into public life, especially with something like heading a ministry, I think it should come with some recognition of rules. You have to choose; if you are a private business owner, be a private business owner or stay in government. It cannot be both,” head of TIGI Troy Thomas told Stabroek News.
“There needs to be a policy about what people should do. This is something that they need to address urgently going forward,” he added, while stressing that such a document should clarify the expectations of ministers who also function as business proprietors, “otherwise, you can’t get away from the appearance that something wrong is going on.”
Following reports by Stabroek News on the DoE contract and the question of a conflict of interest, Hughes has sued the newspaper and its columnist, Anand Goolsarran for alleged libel.
