“THE Government of Guyana would be taking appropriate steps to recover the $4M sum” owed by the governing body of the Civil Society Organisation, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon confirmed yesterday.The summit was organised by Phillip Mozart Thomas, Chairman of the Guyana National Council for Public Policy (GNCPP), whom the Office of the President (OP) had, prior to the event held on December 17, deemed a questionable character. Thomas on December 17 commenced a three-day civil society summit at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC), supposedly bringing together a wide cross -section of society, including representatives of several organisations who had been selected to form part of the Guyana National Civil Society Council(GNCSC).

During his weekly press conference held at the Office of the President, Dr Luncheon related that cabinet was made aware that the GICC had not been paid its due for the December 17 summit held at the venue by the Civil Society Organisation.
Dr Luncheon explained that Cabinet followed up on issues surrounding the December 17 gathering by Phillip Mozart Thomas and his supporters interested in intending to form and establish a governing body for civil society organisations in Guyana. He noted too that previously, “the Government had distanced itself publicly from the event, the sponsor and the planned organisation, rejecting the reach -out by the organiser.”
According to the HPS, the Government alluded to numerous public concerns about the organisation of the event. “Significantly, investigations subsequent to the event further influenced the Government’s position.”
He continued his explanation, noting that the latest disclosure seemingly justified the original position of the Government and its reservations for the services provided by the GICC to the organisation for their December 17 gathering. “Cabinet was recently informed, [the GICC has] gone unpaid as the cheque for $4M was not honoured by the bank and would be taking appropriate steps to recover the $4M sum.”

The Guyana Chronicle reported recently that the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC), Rent-A-Tent Guyana, and Grand Coastal Hotel are counting their losses after $4.2M in debt was racked up by the hitherto unheard of NGO, the Guyana National Council for Public Policy (GNCPP).The organisation’s indebtedness has to do with the hosting of what, in some quarters, has been deemed a “farcical” civil society summit.

Contacted by this publication, the GICC management was able to confirm that Mr. Thomas attempted to make a downpayment of $3.3M on December 16, the day before the three-day summit was scheduled to begin. That cheque, with an account from the Bank of Nova Scotia, would have covered the venue, equipment from Rent-A-Tent, and catering by the Grand Coastal International Hotel. Things took a turn for the worse on December 31 when the GICC management was informed that the cheque which was used by Mr. Thomas to make the $3.3M down payment could not be honoured, and was returned to the GICC with the words “Account Frozen” printed on it.

(By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally)