Georgetown : Head of State, Donald Ramotar, says that he has not ruled out any review of the transaction undertaken by the Bharrat Jagdeo administration with Queens Atlantic Investment Inc (QAII) which is headed by Dr Ranjisingh ‘Bobby’ Ramroop.
That transaction was handled primarily by Winston Brassington of the National Industrial Commercial and Investments Ltd (NICIL) for which former Head of the Guyana Office for Investment (Go Invest) Geoff Da Silva had admitted that a mistake was made in relation to concessions granted to QAII.
The Head of State made the announcement during his second press engagement today held at Office of the president since his ascension to office.
Ramotar also defended the actions of NICIL over the years saying that, “NICIL has not done anything illegal….nothing illegal”
NICIL has come in for a plethora of attack for the way in which it conducts its business and not immediately transferring the funds accumulated to the nation’s coffers.
Its Head Brassingon only recently came out in his defence saying that he has done nothing wrong while at the helm of the holdings company.
Brassington in his missive to the media said “I have done my job with honesty and integrity and can stand up to whatever scrutiny is brought to bear.”
In 2008 when the illegality of the QAII deal was exposed, his colleague in government transactions, Geoff Da Silva in speaking on the deal involving Brassington was forced to admit, “We made a mistake…We thought it was covered in law.”
The forum at which Da Silva made the revelation was “Guyana’s Privatisation and Taxation Policies and Practices” organised by the administration, in retaliation to comments made by local businessman, Dr. Yesu Persaud.
Persaud had said that concessions similar to those granted to QAII should be given to other local companies. This attracted a sharp response from none other than the then Head of State, Bharrat Jagdeo.
The Alliance for Change has already for the year demanded a parliamentary probe into the affairs of NICIL.
Its Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan is on record as saying that NICIL has directly and indirectly participated in Government transactions worth tens of billions of dollars. “The magnitude of this company’s dealings, in so much stealth, and even in sin, makes it all the more necessary for the truth to be delivered to the public.”
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