INVESTIGATIONS into the Sparendaam Housing Project – Pradoville 2 are nearing completion, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon revealed on Thursday.

Harmon in response to questions on the subject told reporters that as far as he is aware the investigation is almost complete. “There is some question of the valuation to be placed on the lands and that I believe is the last element that is being considered…what value is to be placed on the lands,” the Minister of State said.

Back in March, former President, now Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, along with several former ministers of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and representatives of that party were arrested and questioned by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) in relation to the alleged Pradoville 2 land scam.
The State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) had recommended that Attorney General, Basil Williams put systems in place to facilitate charges of “misconduct in public office” being laid against Jagdeo and five ministers of the former administration: Agriculture Minister, Robert Persaud; Public Service Minister,Dr. Jennifer Westford; Education Minister, Priya Manickchand; Labour Minister,Dr. Nanda Gopaul and Home Affairs Minister,Clement Rohee.

That recommendation by SARU follows an investigation into the procedures employed prior to the transfer and issuance of prime real estate at Sparendaam, lower East Coast Demerara, to the former government ministers and persons believed to be their friends. Last year, the Ministry of Finance handed over the final reports of the forensic audits done on the Sparendaam Housing Project- Pradoville 2 (Special Investigation of the Central Housing and Planning Authority) to the Guyana Police Force (GPF), thereby paving the way for the GPF to open criminal probes into the matter.

The APNU+AFC coalition government has indicated that those found culpable in wrongdoings with respect to the sale of lands at the Pradoville 2 Housing Project should be prosecuted.

Forensic audits done on the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) had revealed that some $257 million were spent on development of the Pradoville 2 housing project, and the value of land there should have been $82.8 million per acre, instead of the significantly less sum for which an acre was sold.

“Instead of accumulating all the costs associated with the Sparendaam Project — including the market value of the land — in a special account to be applied in arriving at the price to be charged per house lot, NICIL’s Board and Cabinet were complicit in charging the related costs of $257.049M to NCN in the form of equity investment, and to CH&PA in the form of receivables. “The fact that several key Cabinet members are the beneficiaries of the house lots renders it highly inappropriate for the very Cabinet to approve of the charging of the expenditure to the accounts of NCN and CH&PA,” the audit report stated.

The report which was released by the Ministry of Finance, said the use of a “conservative estimate of $985M for the 2009 market valuation of the land on which the Marriott has been constructed prior to infrastructure being undertaken on a similar size land (makes) the total value of the Sparendaam project work out to $1.242B or $82.8M per acre. This figure should have been used to compute the price per lot. It is not clear: (a) how many lots are involved, and their respective sizes; (b) the basis under which the recipients were selected; (c) how the price of approximately $1.5M per lot was determined; and (d) which entity — NICIL or CH&PA — received the proceeds from the sale of the plots”, the audit report disclosed.