– NICIL CEO says all transactions were ‘above board’

By Navendra Seoraj
ALL transactions made by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) regarding land, were ‘above aboard’ and strictly business, said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Colvin Heath-London.

Heath-London’s defence of the company’s transactions comes days after NICIL rejected claims that Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, signed off on documents for the transferal of land.

The accusations against the minister were being circulated on Facebook and was titled, “APNU+AFC engaged in large-scale corruption … as Winston Jordan signed off on the transferal of land …”
“Remember, NICIL is an independent company and the minister does not get involved in our affairs…the sale of land has a due process and people, who meet the criteria, are selected.

“NICIL land sales are not regular land sale, these are commercial land sales; so, for instance if you tell me you want land to put four apartments and it will be put up by a particular date, then there is a penalty clause if that date is not met,” said Heath-London in an invited comment, on Thursday.

He assured that the sale of land is not political, but rather a commercial transaction which is above board. The company has so far sold land to business people alone.

In order for land to be transferred to a buyer, that land has to be vested, so if these lands are not vested to NICIL within a specific period of time, it could affect the buyer’s ability to execute his investment.

Heath-London assured that the lands being sold, especially those formerly owned by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), were vested to NICIL.

“When GuySuCo was vested to NICIL, we got certain lands and one of the jobs we had was to sell lands to cover the bond payment taken to sustain and diversify the sugar industry…the money from the bond is disbursed to GuySuCo and we use the money from the sale of lands to repay the loan and the remainder is transferred to GuySuCo,” the CEO explained.
The $30 billion bond, backed by NICIL’s assets and guaranteed by the Government of Guyana, was secured through NICIL to retrofit and revitalise the three remaining sugar estates.

NICIL received deposits for the lands commencing December 2019, however, the transactions remained incomplete since the vesting orders were not ‘signed and gazetted’ as required by law and this meant that the remaining sums could not be paid over by the investors.

The need for expediency in the payments for land, however, arose after the GuySuCo made public its financial crisis.

It was reported that the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and other prevailing national conditions have rendered the national treasury incapable of providing a bailout to the “cash-strapped” GuySuCo, but all hope is not lost, as the company is expected to benefit from $1.5 billion, paid to NICIL for the sale of land.

Following GuySuCo’s recent request to the government for a bailout, NICIL was approached to assist the company.

“By now, the public must be aware that a $30 Billion bond backed by NICIL’s assets and guaranteed by the Government of Guyana was secured through NICIL to retrofit and revitalise GUYSUCO. We wish to remind too, that from July 2018 to February 2020, NICIL has disbursed $9,720,759,568 to GUYSUCO to fund its Capital and Operational Expenditure,” said NICIL.

In a letter to President Granger on May 15, close to a month ago, Chairman of GuySuCo’s Board of Directors, John Dow, said the sugar corporation was in a “dire financial crisis” with billions in debt, and insufficient finances to execute critical factory maintenance.

“Despite improvements in the productivity of cane, GuySuCo’s sugar production for the last two crops has fallen short of expectations and the current COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problems experienced in meeting the first crop 2020 production targets. As a result, the cash generated from operations cannot meet the ‘outgoings’ particularly when external funding has been difficult to obtain,” Dow said as he painted a vivid picture of the financial challenges facing the sugar industry.

GuySuCo’s condition could dwindle even further if “crucial creditors” are paid, said Dow, noting that if the corporation takes this recourse, the company would be out of cash before the second week of June.

“It is also common knowledge that GuySuCo and the bond holders were in the process of ironing out some matters so that further disbursements could be had. But NICIL, having recognised the urgency of the request, sought to complete the land transactions.

It therefore became necessary to regularise the Vesting Orders,” said NICIL.

The company assured that along with government, they are committed to safeguarding the livelihood of the sugar workers and the industry.