The opposition PPP has written the Guyana Elections Commission over allegations of inducement by Minister of Communities Annette Ferguson, who it said on the eve of voting by the disciplined services held a secret meeting with some members where she promised house lots if they voted her government back into office.
“All I want you to understand is that the prospects for the housing sector will be great when we return to government. But the only way you will be able to benefit, whether your application is in 2010 when we weren’t there or 2011 when we weren’t there…is that you have to ensure that we return to government,” Ferguson could be heard saying, in an audio recording obtained by Stabroek News.
“So tomorrow I know many of you got a date, a special date. It is whether we go forward or we go backwards. All I want say to y’all is don’t stop de progress,” she added.
It appears that she was speaking to a group from the Guyana Police Force during a closed door meeting as she requested that all phones be turned off before the meeting commenced. “No cellphones allowed. Please turn off your cellphones. All of them quickly…,” a female’s voice is heard telling persons.
The PPP called GECOM’s attention to Ferguson’s actions as it stated that she was breaking the law and cajoling persons to vote for her party.
“The contents of Minister Ferguson’s address to the ranks who were scheduled to cast their ballots the following day represents an inducement which is a serious violation of our electoral laws, the GECOM elections code of conduct, an abuse of power by the Minister and also a form of intimidation,” the PPP said in a statement.
Stabroek News yesterday reached out to Ferguson for comment but calls to her mobile phone went unanswered.
It is unclear what was the purpose of the meeting between Ferguson and the ranks but she was in campaigning mode as she spoke extensively of what her government has done in the housing sector and of plans for the future.
“What I will commit to do is that I will look at the information, l and with all fairness to those who would have applied between 2010 going way up into the 90s, I will try to see, based on the number of land we have, to see how best I can allocate. And I can’t tell yuh I will allocate yuh tomorrow, because I know tomorrow [February 21] is a special day when y’all gon mek I smile, right? So this gon be the deal. This is going to be the deal. Our team they have to update the records because many of you probably (would) be changing …your information so the figures will indeed change for the different regions. This is what is going to happen going forward. Going forward, Lands and Surveys they have already signaled to me, Commissioner [Trevor] Benn has already signaled to me that look ‘we will be opening up some lands on the East Bank of Demerara’, I think round Great Diamond area, right? That’s one,” she said.
Further, she added, “Two, is that we will – Central Housing and Planning Authority – and once I remain the Minister, I will be pushing to ensure that the Joint Services – not only the soldiers but the Police, the firemen and the prison officers are catered for. So we will allocate probably acres of land to the Joint Services, so that you people, the Police and the Defence Force, so that they can help us to take off some of the load that we are grappling with at the moment. Fair enough?”
‘Encouraged’
And when someone said “no” in response to Ferguson’s question she sounded as if she was irked and compared the group to one she had met sometime earlier in the day.
“Huh?” she asked. “So why are you saying no? I might sound a lil rude; I think the first batch [of persons she spoke to] was disciplined and they understand. I got no nos, no nos I got. They had issues and they raised their issues and they were addressed,” she stressed.
“I am going to say it again, I cannot give what I don’t have. Why is it that we would have 1000s of lands and don’t want to give it to our people. As I look at the record here, many of you applied way before May 2015. Were we there? We weren’t there so Irfaan [Ali, PPP/C presidential candidate] is the man that is supposed to be answering why he didn’t make house lots available. But now you are hearing 50,000 house lots they are going to give they are going to give 50,000…when we grappling with more than 50,000 as a government but we have started,” she added.
Ferguson told the ranks that she made it possible for some officers in Regions 5 and 6 to get house lots in two weeks although they had never before applied.
“We have just last two weeks ago, I allocated lands in regions no 5 and 6 and many of your brothers in the Guyana Police Force got lands . They never applied, but you know what this caring minister did? I encouraged them. [I told them] Get your application pick your lots, come tomorrow do you interview but at least they got an allocation. They have an allocation,” she said.
She said that prior to meeting with the group she was given data on house lot applicants and would want them to apply and so that when she sees an updated list their names must be on it. She also pointed out that she hears regular laments from persons that they are tired of paying exorbitant sums in rent “to Mr. and Mrs. Landlord” as when they work out the payments they were equivalent or sometimes more than a current mortgage.
Ferguson said that her government was committed to ensuring that the housing needs of the populace are met and that she is pained to see persons living in squalor or squatting.
There are the things, you are free to speak now… all I want to say to you people is that we are committed. His Excellency made it clear that before he demits office for the second term, he wants to see people properly housed. He ain’t want to see people living in shanties, he ain’t want see us squatting because squatting is illegal and he don’t want to see people living in slums. You deserve better. Y’all understand me officers? All I want to say is don’t lose hope…this is a government that cares for its people,” she said.
But the PPP says that Ferguson was abusing her power and called on GECOM to undertake a thorough investigation.
“This incident is the latest in a number of such where we have seen the indecent and dishonest display of power, abuse of taxpayers’ dollars… and disrespect for our constitution, electoral and other laws by the David Granger-led APNU+AFC government,” the party said.
“The party calls for this matter to be thoroughly investigated and the Minister to be held responsible for inducement”, it added.
