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Govt spent US$5M to rehab Sanata, then sold it to Ramroop for US$3.4M – Audit report reveals

JANUARY 31, 2016 | BY | FILED UNDER NEWS 

By Abena Rockcliffe
The term “friends with benefits” was magnified in a section of the National Industrial and Commercial

Dr. Ranjisingh ‘Bobby’ Ramroop

Dr. Ranjisingh
‘Bobby’ Ramroop

Investments Limited (NICIL) audit report which confirmed that Dr. Ranjisingh ‘Bobby’ Ramroop—best friend of former President Bharrat Jagdeo—was able to grab the Sanata Complex at a gift price.
The report also highlighted NICIL’s admittance that it sold the property to Dr. Ramroop at a valuation price of what the property was worth before large sums were spent on renovation.
NICIL sold 18.891 acres of land with buildings and erections at the Plantation Ruimveldt for US$3.4M to Queens Atlantic Investments Inc. (QAII) in 2010. Kaieteur News understands that this sale recorded a major loss for the State as pre-sale rehabilitation works on the complex had cost close toUS$5M with US$2M being spent on the removal of asbestos alone.
Chartered Accountant and former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran, had highlighted the sale of the property in his forensic audit report on NICIL.
He said, “By Order No. 40/2010 dated November 29, 2010, NICIL sold 18.891 acres of land and buildings and erections at the Plantation Ruimveldt (Sanata Textiles) to Queens Atlantic Investments Inc. (QAII) for $689 million (US$3.4M). The note on NICIL’s publication reads: After being advertised for sale but no proposals was received, in mid- 2007, a proposal was received from QAII for the development of the compound with a US$27 million investment plan.
The proposal was for a lease with an option to purchase.  At the time of the proposal NICIL was facing

Former President, Bharrat Jagdeo

Former President, Bharrat Jagdeo

continued vandalism and destruction to the property despite the presence of security.  In 2007, following the requisite approvals, a lease was issued and in 2010 having satisfied all the conditions precedent to exercise the option to purchase, the property was sold at the current market valuation of the property before the improvements were implemented”
NICIL’s Executive Director, Winston Brassington, and the Executive Chairman of QAII, Dr Ramroop, in a joint missive, had stated that the privatization of Sanata had taken the form of the issuance of a 99-year lease at a substantive rental of approximately $50M per year.
However, there was nothing in Goolsarran’s report that proves that Dr. Ramroop had indeed been paying the cost for the lease.
Following the acquisition of this property, QAII reported that its assets more than doubled.
The company’s 2010 Financial Statements, which were inked by the Group’s head and best friend of former President Bharrat Jagdeo, Ramroop, verified that the group’s total assets for 2009 were $3.6B. It skyrocketed to $7.9B in 2010. A property bought for only $689M hiked QAII’s more than $4B higher.
Rehabilitation and construction of the facilities which commenced in June 2007 were said to be phased over a three-year period.
Until it was sold, Sanata was leased to and managed by the China Textiles Industrial Corporation for Foreign Economic and Technical Cooperation of China.
In 2000, the assets of the company were brought under the control of NICIL and subsequently a new company,

NICIL’s Executive Director, Winston Brassington

NICIL’s Executive Director, Winston Brassington

G&C Sanata, was established.
Queens Atlantic Investment Inc. was incorporated in Guyana in 1999..
The Government of Guyana in 2008 approved the privatization of the Sanata Textiles Complex (Sanata), Industrial Site, Georgetown to QAII for the purpose of establishing a multi-purpose investment complex.
Dr Ramroop at the time had intimated that he envisaged an overall investment of US$30M and the creation of 1200 jobs of which 600 new, permanent jobs would become a reality by the end of 2008. This never materialized.

 

http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....-ramroop-for-us3-4m/

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Not surprising, the asbestos removal and derelict status of the complex required expensive rehabilitation. In the end the govt of the day had to throw in the towel as it could not perpetually keep maintaining a derelict structure that govt had no business owning. The fire sale to Ramsaroop was in line with govt policy at the time, to divest itself from private enterprise. When Ramsaroop took over the complex, it was a liability. The windfall today is a factor of rising prices of real estate from 2010 to 2015. Not unusual for land/property appreciation.

FM
Drugb posted:

Not surprising, the asbestos removal and derelict status of the complex required expensive rehabilitation. In the end the govt of the day had to throw in the towel as it could not perpetually keep maintaining a derelict structure that govt had no business owning. The fire sale to Ramsaroop was in line with govt policy at the time, to divest itself from private enterprise. When Ramsaroop took over the complex, it was a liability. The windfall today is a factor of rising prices of real estate from 2010 to 2015. Not unusual for land/property appreciation.

What asbestos?? you are defending thieves added with a tinge of lies.

Django
RiffRaff posted:

Friends with BEnefits

What happen you stick like when dem laang time recors scratch. Dat would sound like Prem Ratan Prem Ratan Prem Ratan until until someone move the needle.

Nehru

Legal corruption at its best.  They should seize the property from him for any little deviation such as not paying the lease amounts or not investing as called for.   If all else fail, tax the property so the people of Guyana could be made whole.

FM
Django posted:
Drugb posted:

Not surprising, the asbestos removal and derelict status of the complex required expensive rehabilitation. In the end the govt of the day had to throw in the towel as it could not perpetually keep maintaining a derelict structure that govt had no business owning. The fire sale to Ramsaroop was in line with govt policy at the time, to divest itself from private enterprise. When Ramsaroop took over the complex, it was a liability. The windfall today is a factor of rising prices of real estate from 2010 to 2015. Not unusual for land/property appreciation.

What asbestos?? you are defending thieves added with a tinge of lies.

Read the article you will notice that they mentioned asbestos removal as part of the expense of rehabilitation of the complex before selling to Ramsaroop. He was the only show in town, this sale was not done in the dark behind closed doors. The govt of the day had been reaching out to many to sell the complex without success.  The PNC/AFC were privy to the sale back then but they did not protest as they felt the price was fair. It is only after land value appreciated in the region that the cries of corruption were heard. Hindsight is often times 20/20. 

FM
Drugb posted:
Django posted:
Drugb posted:

Not surprising, the asbestos removal and derelict status of the complex required expensive rehabilitation. In the end the govt of the day had to throw in the towel as it could not perpetually keep maintaining a derelict structure that govt had no business owning. The fire sale to Ramsaroop was in line with govt policy at the time, to divest itself from private enterprise. When Ramsaroop took over the complex, it was a liability. The windfall today is a factor of rising prices of real estate from 2010 to 2015. Not unusual for land/property appreciation.

What asbestos?? you are defending thieves added with a tinge of lies.

Read the article you will notice that they mentionedasbestos removal as part of the expense of rehabilitation of the complex before selling to Ramsaroop. He was the only show in town, this sale was not done in the dark behind closed doors. The govt of the day had been reaching out to many to sell the complex without success.  The PNC/AFC were privy to the sale back then but they did not protest as they felt the price was fair. It is only after land value appreciated in the region that the cries of corruption were heard. Hindsight is often times 20/20. 

My bad ,the thought came to mind,why asbestos are used in tropical countries.

Django
Last edited by Django

It looks like Kaietuer in true mudraking fashion like about the 5 million spent by govt. In fact the rehabilitation and asbestos removal was done by Ramsaroop.

 

Goolsarran rubbishes Kaieteur News’ claims on Sanata Complex

State auditor Anand Goolsarran has rubbished the claims made by Kaieteur News on Sunday

anand-goolsarran

State auditor Anand Goolsarran

that the Queens Atlantic Investment Inc (QAII) had acquired Sanata Complex after the Government had spent US$5 million to clean it up.
Contacted for a comment on Monday, Goolsarran told Guyana Times that the report was utterly false, adding “you need to find out from Kaieteur News where they got that from”.
The Glenn Lall-owned Kaieteur News on Sunday published a litany of libellous accusations under a front-page banner headline “Govt spent US$5M to rehab Sanata, then sold it to Ramroop for US$3.4M – Audit report reveals”.
In the body of the story, however, the Kaieteur News could not point to any statement in the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) audit report by Goolsarran which even implied that the Government had paid any sum much less “US$5M to rehab

Kaieteur News Publisher Glenn Lall

Kaieteur News Publisher
Glenn Lall

Sanata”.
The report could not so state for the simple fact that it is a matter of public record that the cleanup of the Sanata Textiles Complex, inclusive of asbestos removal, was done during the lease and after the purchase when QAII took possession of the Complex and was totally funded by QAII. The reporter did not adhere to even the scantiest standard of responsible journalism.
All the audit said about the Sanata purchase, which Kaieteur ironically published, was: “By Order No. 40/2010 dated November 29, 2010, NICIL sold 18.891 acres of land and buildings and erections at the Plantation Ruimveldt (Sanata Textiles) to Queens Atlantic Investments Inc. (QAII) for $689 million (US$3.4M). The note on NICIL’s publication reads: After being advertised for sale but no proposals was received, in mid- 2007, a proposal was received from QAII for the development of the compound with a US$27 million investment plan.
The proposal was for a lease with an option to purchase. At the time of the proposal NICIL was facing continued vandalism and destruction to the property despite the presence of security. In 2007, following the requisite approvals, a lease was issued and in 2010 having satisfied all the conditions precedent to exercise the option to purchase, the property was sold at the current market valuation of the property before the improvements were implemented.”
There is nothing in this statement that Kaieteur News could possibly point to, to make its libellous claim that Government had spent any sum to clean up Sanata Complex.
Asked for a comment, Dr Ranjisinghi “Bobby” Ramroop said, “I want to state categorically that after the lease the Government of Guyana did not spend a single cent on the cleanup or any other expense that went into rehabilitating what was at that time buildings reverting back to a jungle. Glenn Lall has been peddling this misinformation and lie since 2008 when we launched the Guyana Times. At this time, I think he is struggling for relevance and should get some professional help.”
QAII believes that the report is nothing more than a vicious attack on private enterprise in Guyana in general and on the Ramroop group of companies in particular.

FM

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