THE penultimate part of the National Communications Network (NCN) debate series on corruption has left the opposition and an independent panelist yet to identify a specific instance of corruption and state what exactly it entails.

Wednesday night’s debate series focused on the National Industrial & Commercial Investments Ltd. (NICIL) and the charges of corruption levelled against the agency by the parliamentary opposition.
While representatives of the opposition failed to show up, Christopher Ram, Chartered Accountant and member of the Alliance for Change party, was present in an independent capacity. Other panelists were Mrs. Marcia Nadir-Sharma, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of NICIL; Anil Nandlall, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs; and Irfaan Ali, Minister of Housing and Water. The debate was moderated by Professor Al Creighton, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana.
A summary of the debate by AG Nandlall aptly described not only Wednesday night’s debate, but previous ones as well. “Once again the nation is seeing and being exposed to the reality, that they have been misled and there is a deliberate attempt to continue to mislead people on many aspects of governmental conduct and activities and to perpetuate the myth and perception that corruption dominates governmental conduct.”
Minister Nandlall pointed out that NICIL, which has already generated a lot of criticism and propaganda, has been the victim of this approach by the opposition.
While Ram addressed NICIL’s financial matters, including the repeated accusation of non-submission of financial records, he was presented with the details of submissions up to 2010 by both Minister Nandlall and Mrs. Nadir-Sharma.
The AG decried the fact that while Ram’s interpretation differs from the government’s and the Auditor General’s, as well as Ram’s misinterpretation of the laws, “he has not said to us, as I have repeatedly asked, out of the 150 transactions which has been done by NICIL, which one he feels is above board or which ones have some element of corruption in them.”
Throwing the ball into Minister Ali’s court however, provided the viewers with facts of corruption in 1991 and 1992.  Producing a document prepared by Dr. Odeen Ishmael, currently serving as Guyana’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the State of Kuwait, Minister Ali presented details of corruption in the sales of complexes of the Guyana Rice Milling Marketing Authority (GRMMA). GRMMA complexes in Black Bush Polder and Corriverton were sold in August 1991 to a foreign firm, Curacao Investments Co. Ltd, for US $3.8M, but were both valued at US$14.9M; complexes at Ruimzeigt and Wakenaam were sold for US$2.5M and were valued at US$8.5M; complexes at Anna Regina valued at US$14.2M were sold to a St. Vincent firm for US $4.2M and renamed CARICOM Rice Mills Ltd.
Minister Ali, presenting these facts of corruption occurring in 1991 and 1992, said, “We, as a people and a nation, must take action on these things.” He derided Ram’s presentation as complete assertions based on political manoeuverings, interpretations and dimensions.
Meanwhile, AG Nandlall, rebutting Ram’s presentation on the financial accounting of NICIL and the accusation that the company violates the law, pointed out that Ram did not state how this was done. On the issue of NICIL violating the constitution, Ram cited Articles 216 and 217 of the constitution, but never developed the argument.
Minister Nandlall faced down Ram with the fact that since NICIL, according to Ram, is committing legal wrongs such as violating the Public Corporation Acts and the Constitution, and hijacking state assets, he queried why it is that over the last 20 years a case has not been filed against NICIL.  The AG acknowledged that one case filed against the Amaila Falls Hydro Power Project was dismissed in the High Court.
NICIL was incorporated as a Private Limited Company under the Companies Act, Chapter 89:01, in July 1990. A new Companies Act was enacted in 1991 with effect from May 1995 by the Companies Act (Commencement) Order, No. 25 of 1995, and NICIL was registered as a continuing company pursuant to Section 339 of the new Act in 1998. NICIL is 100 percent owned by the Government of Guyana.
The primary objectives of the company were that of subscribing for taking or otherwise acquiring, holding and managing the government’s shares, stocks, debentures or other securities of any company, co-operative societies or other corporate body. This meant that all government shareholdings in public corporations and companies including, those falling under the Public Corporations Secretariat, and the Co-operative Finance Administration Institutions, were to be transferred to NICIL. The objective was to have a unified and systematic management of government’s shareholdings.
NICIL is also the holding company for Government owned minority/majority interests, and deals in property management which includes the acquisition / disposal / rental of government owned properties. The company is also responsible for monitoring government’s equity in other companies and acting as agents for other Government agencies in the disposal of properties or management of companies.
NICIL has a Board of Directors that consists of the Minister of Finance, the Head of the Presidential Secretariat, the CEO of Go-Invest, an opposition representative and the Executive Director of NICIL.