– Scandal resurfaces as APNU launches campaign in its shadow
MINISTER within the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy, has called out Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton for launching A Partnership for National Unity’s 2025 campaign at Cuffy Square, within close proximity of the infamous Durban Park, without addressing the major corruption scandal that continues to haunt the former coalition administration.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, McCoy described the act as “one of those moments in politics” that forces the public to question “whether the people involved are being wilfully dishonest, or if they genuinely believe the public has forgotten.”

Durban Park, located just a few feet from the launch site, “is the most glaring monument to the corruption of the coalition he represents,” McCoy stated, adding that the site should have prompted Norton “to speak carefully, or better yet, acknowledge the wrongdoing and apologise.”
McCoy also pointed out the strategic stage placement by Norton’s team, “They deliberately placed the actual stage north, breaking with the usual tradition of placing it eastward. One can only assume it’s because they didn’t want the crumbling Durban Park project to feature in every campaign photo.”

He warned that “no stage direction can hide the truth. Whether they face the crowd north, east, or anywhere—even they must know the project still stinks of corruption.”
McCoy slammed the A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) administration’s handling of the Durban Park project, calling it “a deliberate cover-up, wrapped in

secrecy and funded through a shady special-purpose vehicle called Homestretch Development Incorporated.”

He pointed to the involvement of then-Minister of Education, Rupert Roopnaraine, who sat in Cabinet while simultaneously being a director of the company receiving state funds.
“By any standard, that is unethical and an outright abuse of power,” McCoy said.
According to the Public Affairs Minister, more than $1.1 billion in taxpayers’ money was funnelled into the project, with $600 million still unaccounted for.
“Payment vouchers couldn’t be found. Contractors couldn’t be traced. The Audit Office spent years trying to piece together what happened, only to hit wall after wall. To this day, the $600 million that disappeared remains unaccounted for,” he said.
McCoy also referenced APNU+AFC’s controversial “forensic audits,” which he said were “handpicked and sole-sourced” in a failed attempt to tarnish the PPP/C. “These audits were meant to pin corruption on the PPP/C, but ended up turning up empty. Still, they cost the taxpayers dearly, and more importantly, they were illegal.”
He added that, “If Norton wants to be taken seriously, he needs to stop pretending the past doesn’t exist. He needs to look the people of this country in the eye and explain why a billion-dollar stadium project has turned into a national embarrassment. He needs to say why the records are missing, why the contractors are gone, and why he continues to ignore this while elephant,”

The Durban Park project, launched by the former APNU+AFC administration in 2015 to commemorate Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary in 2016, has long been embroiled in controversy, with $1.1 billion in taxpayer dollars still unaccounted for.
According to multiple Auditor General reports, a private company—Homestretch Development Incorporated (HDI)—was created to manage the project, and $500 million was funnelled to it in 2017 without proper documentation or accountability.
One of HDI’s directors at the time was then Minister of Education, Rupert Roopnaraine, who also sat in Cabinet—a clear conflict of interest.
Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has also weighed in on the issue over the years, most recently stating that authorities are still unable to locate many of the contractors who received payments under the Durban Park project.

He has repeatedly cited it as one of several examples of deep-rooted corruption during the APNU+AFC’s time in office.
The Durban Park “stadium” has been featured in the news for years with substantiated claims being that the $1.1 billion was not properly spent. Jagdeo noted that the missing contractors received some $600 million.
The project was again featured in the Auditor General (AG), Deodat Sharma’s report.
Sharma noted that his office undertook a special audit in accordance with Section 26 of the Audit Act 2004, on the construction of Durban Park and an interim report was issued on December 7, 2018.

He said that construction commenced in 2015 in preparation for Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary to be celebrated in 2016.
A private company named Homestretch Development Inc. (HDI) was created to implement this project. As of December 31, 2017, amounts totalling $1.150 billion were expended.
Sharma noted that payment vouchers to support expenditures incurred by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, now public works, totalling $70.610 million were not produced for audit

examination.
“As such, the completeness, accuracy and validity of this amount could not be determined,” the report stated.
In addition, Sharma noted that some $500 million was paid to HDI in 2017 by the ministry to enable HDI to meet its obligation to its creditors.
However, there was no documentation attached to the payment vouchers to indicate the works done, supervisory checks carried out on the works, as well as certification that the works were satisfactorily completed.

“Only the list of HDI creditors and government’s proposed payment allocation to each creditor was attached to the payment vouchers. In the circumstances, the correctness, accuracy, and validity of the payments made could not be determined”, the report noted.
The AG mentioned that his office had written the then Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Infrastructure on July 19, 2018, requesting documentation detailing the works done, supervisory checks of the said works, as well as certification that works were satisfactorily completed.
The ministry told the Audit Office that it was not involved in the operations of HDI. Hence, it did not have any information detailing supervisory checks or their methodology of determining that works were satisfactorily completed.
On March 11, 2019, the Audit Office also made a request to the ministry for additional documentation for the project.
Some documents have since been submitted. However, years later, the Audit Office stated, “At the time of reporting in September 2024, this matter remained the same.”