Durban Park: Contractors paid millions by APNU/AFC still cannot be found – Jagdeo

The controversial Durban park Project that the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government sunk over $1 billion into has been a recurring line item in subsequent Auditor General (AG) reports. And unfortunately, the contractors that the former Government paid out millions of dollars to still cannot be located.
During his most recent press conference, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo addressed the issue of corruption and contrasted how accountable the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is currently, when compared to the former Government.
The former Government was embroiled in controversy over Durban park because of the secrecy that surrounded the project. One controversy was the fact that a Government Minister, then Education Minister Dr Rupert Roopnarine, was one of the Directors of special purpose company Homestretch Development Incorporated (HDI), an entity that collected money from secret donors to finance the construction of the park and another controversy was the fact that for years, the Audit Office of Guyana (AOG) has been unable to audit the project properly owing to missing documents.

“So, this is how it was done in the past. Up to now you can’t find who worked on the stadium that they built by Durban Park. Can’t find the contractors that collected the missing $600 million,” Jagdeo said.
The Vice President also highlighted other areas in which the former Government was less than accountable, such as when they spent $135.5 million to conduct forensic audits of various entities, soon after they got into Government in 2015. These audits failed to come up with credible evidence of corruption against the former PPP/C Government, but they were sole sourced to select consultants, in breach of the procurement laws.
“The last Government wanted to do audits after they got in. So called forensic audits. To find corruption against the PPP. So, (these auditors) were called by the Minister. And told that they’re doing these audits and which one (they) wanted. And then (they) selected the ones (they) wanted and they approved, and millions of dollars spent, no public tender.”
“These were forensic audits to find corruption against the PPP. Now there’s two things wrong with that. (A) Minister cannot assign an audit. Because under the law we passed, only two entities can approve audits.”
According to the VP, the former Government bypassed the two entities in question- both the AG and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)- in having these audits conducted… another contrast between the two parties.
As a matter of fact, it was President Dr Irfaan Ali who, as the then Chairman of the PAC, utilised the right channels by requesting AG Deodat Sharma to probe the Durban Park Project… which the AG flagged in his 2015 report for having received $36.5 million in Lotto funds that were used for rehabilitative works.
The AOG had unsuccessfully attempted to source important documents necessary to audit the controversial Durban Park Project for years. And the office had also recommended that Police be called in to investigate the matter.
A special audit by the AG office was conducted into the Durban Park Project since 2018, finding that $1.1 billion was spent on the project. Even then, payment vouchers to account for how millions were spent were not provided to the auditors.
There is also the matter of the $500 million paid by the former APNU/AFC Government to the special purpose company. This money was supposed to allow the company to clear its debts. According to the Audit Office, however, there was a stark lack of transparency in how this money was used.
Today, Durban park is a vastly underutilised structure with aging wooden beams supporting wooden stands. As a matter of fact, the facility has been used by vagrants as a nightly refuge for years. (G3)