Investors in a proposed mega ‘green’ project at Linden are bemoaning what they believe is the deliberate delay by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) in notarising and filing their lease agreement although they have been paying rent for over a year.
“I signed a lease with NICIL on August 4th, 2017, and their money comes out of my bank account every month and they provide me an invoice. We began running a number of intensive tests and measurements on the land, water and so on and when that was done, I wanted to begin my development late last year but it is the royal runaround to get the notarised lease,” US-based Guyanese, Sharon Benjamin-Fauconier told Sunday Stabroek, via phone from the United States on Tuesday.
“We are told that there are other lands and all kinds of foolishness. We did not secure funding and ran tests for other lands. We did not go through a process of applying to NICIL and having to wait on approval from the Board, then okaying by Cabinet, for other lands. The area has the water and hills that are necessary and we want to start our project. This delay has held us up for too long,” she declared.
The site referred to is a 503-acre plot of land bordering the Kara Kara Creek in Linden, in the vicinity of the popular mined-out pond known locally as the Blue Lake. It comprises depleted bauxite lands once worked by foreign and later state-owned bauxite companies.
NICIL is the agency responsible for the lands. Sunday Stabroek attempted several times to contact head of NICIL, Colvin Heath-London, but calls to his phone went unanswered.
Benjamin-Fauconier and her husband, both born in Linden and both engineers (he in the electrical field, she in industrial), said that from visits to their homeland, they saw the potential of what many had condemned for years. Consequently, they created a business entity called the Guyana Initiative Against Climate Change (GIACC).
Benjamin-Fauconier said that while some persons would have used parts of the now water-filled former bauxite pits to swim, they believe that the area could be transformed to produce clean energy, while they also want to set up a manufacturing entity which would produce and export fertilizers, among other products.
It was with that in mind, she said, that she applied to NICIL for the lease and was told that she had to submit a detailed proposal.
Business Strategist for GIACC, Everton Forris, who also spoke via telephone from the US, gave a brief insight into the scope of works contained in the proposal. The company submitted their plan “describing its intentions for the site – the types of high technology and the technological skills it will bring. This includes the types of collaboration it would need though the University of Guyana and technical schools and the products planned to manufacture and export,” he said.
“GIACC plans to manufacture two types of fertilizers at the site, both using renewable energy and raw materials of air and water. Fertilizer `packing’ is the least of what GIACC plans to do. 503 acres of land is not needed to pack fertilizer but [is] a large acreage for solar cells, solar steam generation and other plants needed to manufacture fertilizer in quantity. In addition to this, solar energy acreage for fuel cell and electric buses and energy to generate hydrogen for cooking gas was factored into the land-lease,” he added, observing that fertilizer is a product that will “bring needed foreign exchange to Guyana.”
His reference to fertilizer `packing’ pertains to criticisms of the project that have recently surfaced.
‘Clean money’
Asked about financing for the project, Forris and Benjamin-Fauconier were reluctant to say where the monies would come from but assured that the money is “clean money” and is already available.
“We don’t have to say that. We won’t give out our source. It is clean money. We are not depending on the Linden government or the Guyana government for one cent. Our money is in Guyana, already in the bank since 2016. Everything [is there]!” Forris said.
“For your information, I worked for the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). I know the rules. We started doing testing and nobody has to worry because we can produce our documentation and it is there already where our money is coming from,” he emphasised.
Benjamin-Fauconier would only say that financing is available and NICIL is paid a monthly rent from her bank account and she has receipts to produce if anyone wants to dispute this. “In the time since [signing the lease], I have been paying NICIL and I pay them directly on the first of the month. NICIL would send me invoices. I haven’t seen any in the last two months [but] my bank continues to pay NICIL monthly,” she said.
The engineer is annoyed that her project is on hold as she has been traveling frequently to Guyana but still cannot get the notarised lease. She said that an employee of NICIL contacted them and scheduled a meeting with Heath-London last month. But five minutes before the time, he called in sick.
“Mr London told us to come to Guyana for a face-to-face on the 15th and I never see that man. Scheduled a meeting on short notice, had us fly into Guyana over the weekend and paying more for last minute tickets only to call in about five minutes before to say he was sick. What nonsense is that? Mr Forris later found out that Mr London was at Watooka at the time. The rudeness and impoliteness!” she said.
“I had to tell his assistant to tell Mr London … This is not something we are applying for. We already have a lease. This is no back alley. Cabinet has already approved this,” Forris said.
Benjamin-Fauconier said that last week, she wrote to NICIL informing that the company would give them seven days to make her lease right or she would take “necessary action.” That deadline expired on Wednesday.
“All I need [is] my lease to be notarised, to submit to the municipality to have my project commencing. I don’t want to hear about other lands…I just need what needs to be done, handled,” she said.
“For someone coming back to give back to the place, it is not a good experience at all. I was born here and my birth certificate says 1001 Industrial Zone. I am not a stranger. Guyana is the place I will and have always called home. I have invested in surveys and tests and have bought so much equipment already. You tell me what else is it that I have to do?” she questioned.
‘Habitable’
NICIL is not the only place where Benjamin-Fauconier has experienced hiccups as she told a similar story of her interactions with the Linden municipality.
She said that a street to access the municipality’s dumpsite runs through the leased land but persons continue to dump garbage on her property and when there are events at the lake, they are left to clean those areas also.
“People use the lake for leisure and it is why part of our plan is to develop the area, you know, spruce it up and make it habitable for them to use. There are no bathroom facilities there and if there is an event people have to go, they have to use the bushes. How can that be healthy? I wrote the council and told them we would close the place after a big event they had and work on it. We were given a key to the gate and the deal was that we have a key and they have a key. I was shocked that when we were ready to begin work, the gates were opened and we were told that the council says we cannot do that,” she recounted.
“I said what nonsense is this. I said if I can’t, then I’ll put my own fence and gate…and this is where that issue with the council began and continues. I started doing just that but then got a letter that I had to cease work,” she added.
Benjamin-Fauconier explained that since then, she and her representatives have been “running all around” meeting officials to get a clear understanding on the way forward. Up to when she left Guyana for the US last week, she was no way nearer than when she first started.
She, this week, took to writing President David Granger to highlight her dilemma and hopes that a resolution could be had soon.
This newspaper contacted Linden’s Mayor Waneka Arrindell and she assured that issues with the company would be resolved soonest and said that the council looks forward to the investment and development of the town.
“She would have met with…myself, the Town Clerk and Deputy. It is a project that we know will be good for the community but we had no prior knowledge that the land was hers. The road to our dumpsite runs through her land and an access road was built there for $16 million,” the mayor said.
She explained that the Linden Town Council “as a whole”, plans to meet with representatives of the company and will work out whatever issues exist.
“The project is environmentally safe and will bring needed jobs. We are not against the project. I am sure that everyone wants to see it and the people will support it but we must follow the procedures,” she said.
