In the wake of the report of arrests connected to house lots allocated by the Ministry of Housing and Water, APNU+AFC has reiterated a call for a forensic audit of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).
In a statement yesterday, APNU+AFC said it has seen the comments via social media by persons claiming to have paid monies to staffers at the Ministry of Housing, Central Housing and Planning Authority for the processing of their applications for house lots. This situation is quite an unfortunate one, which warrants an immediate investigation into these allegations, which have brought the Ministry into disrepute, the statement said.
It noted that on October 11, 2023, Shadow Minister of Housing and Water, Annette Ferguson, MP, wrote a letter to the newspapers, highlighting the alleged corrupt practices by staffers at the CH&PA, similarly, calling for a forensic audit to be conducted on the activities and operations at the Ministry. It listed the issues identified in the letter of October 11, 2023:
1. There are allegations of corruption, where staff members are involved in deals to help young professionals and others jump the queue, so well-connected applicants are in receipt of allocations.
2. Allegedly, staff members of CH&PA own properties in the new schemes and are renting to applicants.
3. Middlemen are facilitating the purchase of lots allocated by CH&PA at exploitative prices.
4. Houses built on lots allocated by the CH&PA in the new schemes, are being rented at exorbitant prices by the owners who have other properties elsewhere.
5. Houses sold are extremely defective and have caused owners to incur unnecessary expense to fix them.
6. Infrastructure not in place so those who can afford to build cannot do so.
The statement said that information shared on the Social Media platform has identified by way of images those persons against whom the allegations have been leveled, which has further suggested that these persons are working in the secretariat of Ministers at the Ministry.
The statement noted that the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing has since put out a press release indicating that an investigation will be conducted on the allegations made against staffers. The APNU+AFC expressed its dissatisfaction at the press statement by the Ministry, which in its view has not given much insight into how the Ministry intends to handle these glaring revelations. It reiterated the call for a forensic audit to be done on the CH&PA.
Minister in the Ministry of Housing, Susan Rodrigues in a separate statement on Friday said that over the last few days on social media, there has been an avalanche of allegations levelled against employees of the Ministry of Housing and Water in relation to corrupt transactions. From the outset, the minister said that the tenor of the posts suggested that they would not end until the political heads of the Ministry were linked in some way to the allegations.
“(On Thursday), a member of my secretariat, Naresh Sugrim, was implicated in these social media posts. His photo was published, along with the allegation that he has been receiving bribes in exchange for land. Not a shred of evidence was provided, yet he was tried and convicted in the court of public opinion”, Rodrigues lamented.
She said that unbeknownst to the public, on her instruction, Sugrim had been assisting the Guyana Police Force in an investigation to uncover solid evidence against staff members or outsiders who were suspected of conducting illegal transactions.
“Today, his efforts have led to the arrest of several persons. This will no doubt assist the police to further their investigations. Unfortunately, the reckless and vindictive postings on social media, which prove nothing, have compromised months of tedious investigative work which could have potentially led to more arrests.
“I have always maintained that I am committed to rooting out corruption. In this regard, strident steps were taken to work with the Police to address this wherever it exists in the Ministry”, she stated.
The minister said that regrettably, members of the public continue to encourage the practice of offering bribes and willingly participate in these illegal transactions.
“When they lose their money without receiving the favours they expected, they take to social media to complain, instead of going to the police. There is little or nothing we can do with social media postings that bear no evidence.
“Naresh Sugrim is a patriotic, hardworking, and diligent public servant who did not deserve to be defamed. I have advised him to take private legal action in this regard. It is my hope that this embarrassment does not discourage him, and other honest public servants, who do not engage in such illegalities”, Rodrigues said.
She added that eliminating corruption from a Ministry that distributes land “is a near impossible task, but we can reduce it significantly with help from law-abiding citizens. We cannot do it alone. I am therefore imploring the public to desist from participating in bribery”.
She said that anyone with information or evidence that can lead to the arrest and conviction of staff members or anyone who claims to have contacts in the Ministry that can assist with land allocation in exchange for money should report it to the Police or visit her office and “I will contact the Police to facilitate a full investigation”.
On Thursday, the ministry encouraged anyone with “solid evidence” of corruption to come forward and report it immediately to the Guyana Police Force, the ministers in the ministry or the permanent secretary.
