After days of silence, former Minister of Public Infrastructure (MoPI) David Patterson yesterday acknowledged that he had received gifts from government agencies under his purview but he rejected any accusation of wrongdoing and said he assumed the purchases were in compliance with procurement guidelines.
What exactly Patterson received was still not clear yesterday but Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill totted up the value at $2.6m and called on his predecessor to do the honourable thing and resign as Chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.
Patterson yesterday defended his actions by saying that the practice of giving memorabilia and gifts to ministers is not new as office holders from both sides of the political divide have been presented with such gifts.
However, his defence did not impress Edghill, who said that Patterson was trying to obfuscate his wrongs by making the issue a political one.
“Mr. Patterson said that the practice of giving memorabilia and other gifts to Ministers is not new, and Ministers from both sides of the political divide have been presented with gifts and other memorabilia on numerous special occasions,” said a statement from former APNU+AFC Public Relations Officer Imran Khan.
The statement quoted Patterson as saying that he did not request any agency to gift him any item. “In my case, at no time did I ever request, solicit or influence in any way the action of any agency in relation to the presentation of gifts to me or other officials of the government,” Patterson said in the statement.
“I believe it is also necessary to state that I had no prior knowledge of any decision or details relating to the purchase or presentation of gifts to anyone, including myself,” he added.
His statement acknowledged that he had received gifts from government agencies under his management as reported in Wednesday’s edition of Stabroek News. It was reported that a preliminary review of other agencies covered by Patterson’s then ministry revealed numerous purchases for him and his then junior minister, Annette Ferguson.
On one occasion, Ferguson’s personal assistant advised where the purchase should be made and the date it should be delivered, documents seen by Stabroek News revealed.
Noted too was that last year, during the elections impasse, gifts were still being purchased by Ministry of Public Infrastructure agencies. The Transport and Harbours Department in May, purchased jewellery for $33,500 and a bottle of perfume for $14,000 as a present for Patterson. With VAT included, the items came up to $54,720.
Meanwhile, the Maritime Administration Department’s (MARAD) gift cost some $387,486 and was purchased from Steve’s Jewellery on May 2, 2020.
MARAD on April 4, 2020, also requested and had a cheque drawn for $704,292 to pay Steve’s Jewellery for “birthday gifts”. Documents show the cheque was drawn on May 4, 2020.
Assumed
Patterson said that he “assumed” that gifts presented to him during his incumbency were fully compliant with the procurement guidelines of the giving agency. The standard policy directives, he said, stipulate how such matters should be handled as directed by Cabinet decision, by circular from the Ministry of Finance, or by Board policy.
Believing the revelations have succeeded in having him racially stereotyped and his name brought into disrepute, he said that he wants the public to know that he was not “blinded or frightened by accusations” and he “rejects and repudiates the veiled attempt at racial stereotyping in some of the comments circulating in the media space.”
“Mr. Patterson said that the lies and the so-called revelation of the gifts are a deliberate and blatant attempt at character assassination for political purposes, which will not succeed in derailing his objective of overseeing the government’s expenditure and procurement practices through his chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and representation of the Guyanese people in Parliament,” the statement from Khan said.
But to add to the over $2 million in jewellery received since their tenure in office, documents from the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) and Asphalt plant show a total of $6.7 million in “donations” from the DHB to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. Those monies were used to purchase Samsung smart phones totalling $406,000, Dell laptops at $765,000 and two Apple iPad Air tablets for $427,000, for Patterson and Ferguson.
Among the donations were items such as a cocktail table, dresser, king- and queen-sized bed sets, mattresses and a chest of drawers.
Patterson rejected the claims saying that he has never received any of the items. “It has also come to my attention that it is further alleged that I received a number of electronic items, such as phones, iPads and laptops. This is absolutely untrue, and I categorically deny it. Whoever fabricated this lie obviously does not know that, for security and other reasons, I do not accept electronics of any kind from any agency, including the government, and I have always personally selected and purchased all electronic items I own. For instance, for this reason, I did not accept a mobile telephone offered by the Parliament to Ministers,” he said.
He has assured the public of his continued commitment to serving the people of Guyana without fear or favour and that he will not be side-tracked by political attacks or “red herring accusations by partisan sycophants” who have little or nothing to contribute to the public good and welfare.
“I will resist these baseless attacks from whichever quarters they emanate,” he declared.
Patterson would later post on his Facebook page that it was only after his statement on the DHB and agency gifting that his attention was drawn to the DHB gifts which also included household items such as beds and dressers. It is unclear how he would have read the report on the items but did not see the household items as they were also listed.
Edghill had told this newspaper that it was in a meeting with Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge and Asphalt Plant, Rawlston Adams, on Monday, and from financial documents of the DHB, that it was revealed that the then Ministers of Public Infrastructure were also gifted items. It had earlier been revealed that Adams had approved a gold bracelet purchase of nearly $900,000 for himself from DHB funds in observance of international men’s day. He has lost his position at the DHB as a result of this.
‘Stand’
Patterson took aim at Edghill saying that his making public the issue on the household items was a “thinly veiled” racist viewpoint.
“I had hoped that my statement earlier today, completely debunking the claims being made, about gifts and donations made to me during my tenure as Minister, would lay this issue to rest – I stand by my statements. However, I was just told that Minister Edghill has now descended into the ridiculous, which I quite frankly view as a thinly veiled racist comment. His latest accusations that DHB purchased beds, mattresses, and other such household items for me, is an insult and barely veiled racist comment. Edghill is seeking to create the impression that as a black man, I had to wait until the coalition assumed office in 2015 in order for me to be able to afford a proper bed and mattress,” Patterson wrote on his Facebook page.
“His irresponsible accusations and inferences have already degraded into racist behavior in the public space by supporters of his party. This is a dangerous game!! Edghill on behalf of the PPP is seeking to continue that racist line that as a black leader, I was ‘hand to mouth’ before 2015, and immediately on assuming office, had to use the funds of an agency to furnish my home – despite knowing fully well that none of those items were ever ordered, requested or delivered to me. He knows very well that the records and staff of the Harbour Bridge can signal if they were even ever purchased and where they would have been delivered,” he added.
The former MoPI minister said that he wants it made public that he has never received any household item and that he has built and furnished his current home since 1995. “For the records, I live in a house which I built in 1995, which has been fully furnished since then and I have never moved since that date. The only service provided to my home during the last administration was the provision of security, and that was only in mid-2016 after my home was burglarized and the national security committee insisted that I accept armed security presence,” he explained.
“Oh, by the way, not because I am black that means that I wear ‘bling’. Next, he will be announcing that DHB purchased fried chicken at my request,” he scoffed.
‘Resign’
Calling for his immediate resignation from the PAC as the “decent thing” to do, Edghill responded to Patterson’s statement saying that his predecessor wanted to deviate from the issue by making it political and about racism.
“David Patterson’s failed attempt to exonerate and shift blame by separating himself from the Agencies that he oversaw is not even being accepted by the gullible among his support base. His ‘slip is showing’ as our respected elders would say. Notice is also taken of his second statement which came later in the day and is now seeking to obfuscate. This is another exercise in futility, and clearly expresses to the world the depraved mentality that is being nurtured. There is nothing racist about making public, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It is what the people of Guyana expects and rightfully deserves,” Edghill said.
“For the record, it is my considered opinion, based upon the facts that I shall state in this missive that Mr. Patterson is guilty of (a) misuse of Office, (b) abuse of privilege, (c) misconduct in public office and (d) deception when caught. The jury will pronounce on this matter. These are the facts,” he added, while listing items, which have receipts issued by government agencies, which were received by Patterson during his tenure.
“In May 2020, while the country was experiencing post elections fiasco and in the middle of Court cases, gifts were purchased for the Minister’s birthday by the Maritime Administration Department to the tune of $704,292. These are the kinds of gifts Mr. Patterson accepted and says `followed the rules’. Why weren’t the value of the gifts ever questioned? Where is his moral compass?
“On the same date, there was another gift purchased for $387,486. On 4th May, 2017 a gift was purchased for the Minister by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), another agency that fell under his purview. That gift was purchased in the sum of $117,200 from King’s Jewellery and even had Patterson’s initials ‘DP’ engraved.
“May 3rd 2018 and May 4th, 2018 two purchases were made and the voucher said payment for gifts for Minister Patterson’s birthday and the figure attached was $300,000. There is a letter signed to the Maritime Administration on May 3rd, for the approval of the gifts.
“The Transport and Harbours Department also purchased gifts for Patterson on May 4th, 2017 in the sum of $76,818. On May 6th, 2020 while squatting in office, illegally pretending to the people that he is the Minister, received another gift for $54,720 and the receipts are there to prove”, Edghill said.
Stabroek News had reported on January 18th that documents from the Demerara Harbour Bridge Company and its Asphalt Plant show that two days before Patterson’s birthday in 2017, a total of $504,000 was approved for the purchase of a gold hand band and tie pin for him.
A requisition to purchase the items, dated 2nd of May 2017 describes the items as a hand band (moveable) and a tie pin which had respective price tags of $424,400 and $78,300.
“Do the decent thing and resign as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee,” Edghill urged yesterday, while adding that Patterson’s party, the Alliance for Change also needs to disclose if this was the standard that they set while in Government and they need to say if this is wrong or acceptable.
Edghill called on Guyana’s Integrity Commission to investigate Patterson to see if the over $2.6 million in gifts he received were declared.
“The Integrity Commission Act is clear that you must declare any gift of US$50 or more in your annual declaration for the year that you received it, and if you don’t, you have made a false declaration, which is a criminal act and you can be prosecuted in the Court. As a citizen, I am calling on the members of the Integrity Commission to investigate if these gifts that were given by agencies in the Ministry of Public Infrastructure to David Patterson and Annette Ferguson were declared. If they weren’t declared, let the law be followed. I expect to see charges and prosecution,” Edghill contended.
Under Article 3 of the David Granger APNU+AFC Ministers’ Code of Conduct that deals with gifts, it states that no person in public life shall for himself or herself or for anyone else accept any gift, benefit or advantage from anyone, “save personal gifts from a relative or friend, or personal gifts given otherwise than as a motive or reward for doing or forbearing to do anything in the performance of his or of his or her official functions or causing any other person from doing or forbearing to do anything.” The provision does not apply to gifts received on behalf of the state by any person in public life in the course of the performance of his or her official functions.
