Georgetown: Former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson will be charged and placed before the court on Monday after the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) filed a criminal charge after investigations into the awarding of a contract for the feasibility study for the new Demerara Bridge.
Police sources said Patterson allegedly attempted to defraud the Demerara Harbour Bridge of $167M. The matter about the feasibility study for the new Demerara Bridge has been before the SOCU since 2017.
On Friday, Patterson was invited to visit the SOCU headquarters and upon his arrival with his attorney, he was immediately arrested, fingerprinted, charged, and released on self-bail.
The investigation was revived in November last year on the insistence of new Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill who contended that due process was not properly followed in the awarding of the consultancy contract for the bridge to the Dutch company, LievenseCSO.
The contract was awarded by the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation following public advertisements for consultants to conduct the feasibility study.
Former General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, Rawlston Adams is also likely to face the same charge that has been thrown at the former Minister.
According to 2016 records, the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) had purchased a birthday gift for Patterson valued at $60,000.
Further, in 2018, the same agency purchased a $384, 700 birthday bracelet for Patterson from King’s Jewellery World.
Patterson had initially denied receiving the gifts, saying that the reports were crafted in an effort to tarnish his reputation. With documentations being exposed, Patterson later admitted to receiving the gifts, but said that he was not aware that his acceptance of the expensive items was in breach of regulations.
Documents from May 2020 showed that MARAD went on to approve a majestic sum of $704,292 “towards the purchase of birthday gifts”.
Unlike the previous years, the 2020 records did not specify that the purchase was for Patterson’s birthday gift. The then Minister of Public Infrastructure also received gifts from the Transport and Harbours Department, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, and the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC).
Junior Minister of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson was not left out, as she received items valued at $1.4 million from agencies under the ministry; however, these were classified as “donations”. A spreadsheet from the DHBC showed that in excess of $6 million in “donations” were given to the Public Infrastructure Ministry between June 2015 and July 2016.
Auditor-General Deodat Sharma said that as part of the Fiscal Management and Accountability (FMA) Act, accounting officers, also known as Permanent Secretaries, could face penalties for spending monies that have not been budgeted for and approved by the National Assembly.
The issue of gift-giving within the Ministry of Public Works was placed under the microscope following an investigation into the operations of the state-owned asphalt plant, a subsidiary of the DHBC. The investigation, which wrapped up in December, found that the General Manager of the DHBC, Rawlston Adams, had approved the purchase of an $897,000 wristband as a gift for himself in 2019. Adams has since resigned and is currently in the process of repaying the State for the hefty gift.
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