President decides where he holds activities – Harmon

…wants Nandlall to show evidence PNC using State resources

In the aftermath of allegations that Government has been using State resources for party activities, eyebrows have again been raised when the People’s National Congress (PNC) annual bursary awards exercise was held at State House on Thursday.

Commenting on why the event was not hosted at Congress Place, where it is usually held, State Minister Joseph Harmon posited that President David Granger is allowed to make decisions that are convenient to his schedule.
“Well, that’s a decision which His Excellency the President made. He is the President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, and depending on what is convenient to him, based on his schedule, the President will determine where he holds any activity,” Harmon told reporters on Friday.
The hosting of a party event on State property comes days after Opposition Parliamentarian Anil Nandlall accused the PNC of utilising State resources to fund its events.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, the former Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister claimed that the PNC, whose leader is President Granger, is using the National Treasury as a piggy bank. His comments were occasioned by that party holding its 60th anniversary celebration at the National Cultural Centre on Saturday.
According to the Opposition MP, all the amenities of the state-owned facility were utilised, and not a cent was paid by the PNC.
“Everything was paid for by the taxpayers,” he said, while adding that persons were flown from across the country and from overseas to attend the event. He claimed that even public servants and army officers were “forced” to attend the anniversary celebrations.
“All these expenses are going to be passed off as expenditures of the Investiture Ceremony, which took place the day before. The proximate cost is about $10 million,” Nandlall alleged.
However, asked by reporters to comment further on allegations made, Harmon called on the Opposition to produce evidence that the Coalition Government is indeed utilising State resources to facilitate party activities.
“Well, I would like to know where Mr Nandlall got that information from. (But) let him produce the evidence, because, like I said, the PPP is in the habit now of throwing out these wild assertions without any evidential basis. Let Mr. Nandlall come and produce the basis,” the State Minister said.