…expands
Your Eyewitness knew it was coming…sooner or later. The PNC Government’s going after the PPP’s government’s privatisation of the Sanata Complex at Ruimveldt, that is. The Muckraker’s owner Mook Lall had honed in on this transaction as the centrepiece of his vendetta against the PPP. That vendetta, of course, was precipitated when he demanded concessions that just didn’t comply with the govt’s investment incentive package – articulated by Go Invest. Hell hath no fury as a thwarted backtracker!!
And so, the long-awaited foot has dropped: charges were attempted to be laid against ex-NICIL head Brassington and Finance Minister Singh for “recklessly” selling the Complex to QAII! The complex, of course, had been transferred to NICIL by the Chinese operators for the proverbial peppercorn in 2000, since they’d long given up on the venture. By 2007, when NICIL tried attracting investors to lease the 18-acre complex, it had reverted to “bush” and its equipment had become massive hulks of rusting metal. The tropics isn’t kind to abandoned relics.
Worse of all was that the roofs, ceilings and several walls of the buildings were made of ASBESTOS – which had now been deemed carcinogenic. Companies worldwide were ordered to get rid of it and not expose folks to its insidious effects. But removing asbestos was an expensive proposition since workers didn’t volunteer to be guinea pigs! NICIL wanted the entire complex leased as a package since, part users could always complain of asbestos particles from other structures affecting their workers – and Government just didn’t have the funds eliminate the asbestos. They wanted to structure a deal where the investor would do the dirty work!! It wasn’t surprising several advertisements of NICIL’s didn’t attract any takers!!
Go Invest admitted they then approached QAII, since the latter had made such a success of their NewGPC privatisation, and they were looking for space to expand. The Muckraker was to claim that former Auditor general Goolsarran had asserted the government spent US$2million to get rid of the asbestos BEFORE the sale to QAII for US$3M+ but he immediately refuted that canard!! QAII had expended all the asbestos removal monies! Another lie was with the valuation when in fact it was pegged at $245 million by the Government’s Chief Valuation Officer!
In its new charge against Brassington and Singh, SOCU accepted the Muckrakers figures on the selling price being GY$697M and $1.04 billion Valuation, when QAII actually paid $805.5M. The only thing left is to appoint Mook Lall as the Judge!
Based on other appointments of this government he’s certainly “fit and proper” to do their dirty work!!
…against Victoria
The furor over the statue of Queen Victoria in front of the High Court continues unabated. Your Eyewitness thinks folks ought to get their angst straightened out. The Judiciary and the police, after all, shouldn’t have any problems since most of modern “Law and Order” practices were initiated and established during her regime. The Police Force? Victorian innovation! Jails for specific purposes like separation, silence, hard labour and moral guidance? Victorian!! Witnesses, juries, DPP’s?? Victorian!!
If these folks feel strongly against Victoria, why don’t they persuade the villagers of “Victoria”, to change the designation?? Fact of the matter if there’s one bunch of citizens who may have a justified grouse against Victoria it’s the LGBTQ crowd. The entire corpus of laws that’s used nowadays to oppress them, came out in the “Victorian era”.
But then, those laws have been discarded by her English descendants – but championed by these local “bible thumpers” – egged on by their foreign funders, hasn’t it?
…at GECOM
Your Eyewitness will later take a deeper look at the Chief Justice’s ruling, giving her imprimatur to Granger’s unilateralism on the GECOM’s Chair unilateral appointment.
He’ll go out a limb, however, and wager Granger won’t be criticising judicial “perceptions”, this time!!
