Land repossessed by gov’t at Peters Hall resold at market prices - AG

Two years after PNCR member and attorney-at-law, James Bond, and former acting Chief Executive Officer of National Industrial & Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Colvin Heath-London, were taken to court over the sale of state lands at Peters Hall, East Bank Demerara (EBD), the government says that it has recovered all of the parcels and has resold some at market value back to the buyers.

And with proposals from other companies to also pay market value and obtain new leases for the respective properties, government is also mulling the way ahead in disposing of the prime real estate.

“We got back all those lands. All the leases were revoked. The repossessions were not contested and we took possession of those lands,” Attorney General Anil Nandlall told the Sunday Stabroek when asked for an update.

“Some… bought the lands at market value. Others are proposing the same,” he added, while explaining that discussions are ongoing on the way forward.

After the PPP/C took office in August of 2020, the Guyana Police Force and the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) received three files from the Attorney General for the investigation of leases of several acres of prime state land at Peters Hall, which were done without any valuation, public advertisement, or Cabinet decisions.

During the investigation, Bond, alleged to have been a key financial beneficiary, was arrested and detained for questioning for 72 hours before being released on $200,000 bail.

Currently, there are three charges against him before the court.

The attorney for Heath-London, who was accused of conspiring to defraud the state through the unsanctioned disposal of land at Peters Hall, had requested that a Preliminary Inquiry (PI) be conducted into the charges against him. It is unclear what has happened to that case.

The particulars of the first charge brought against Bond stated that he, Heath-London, and businessman Eddie Doolal, between August 1, 2017 and November 30, 2020, at Georgetown, conspired together and with others to defraud NICIL and its sole shareholder, the Government of Guyana, of property interest in land, namely the Grant of a Lease of lands known as plot A7, A8, A20 Plantation Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara, owned by NICIL, without the necessary Board and Cabinet approval to do same and for the purposes other than that of NICIL.

Doolal’s company, A-Z Pharmaceutical, and Avalon Jagnandan, of Life 1 Pharms, according to NICIL documents, received only $100 when they transferred their leases to Chinese national Jian Fen Yu of Wellington Street, Georgetown.

The second charge stated that HeathLondon and Bond, between August 1, 2017 and November 30, 2020, at Georgetown, conspired together and with others to defraud NICIL and its sole shareholder, the Government of Guyana, of property interest in land, namely the Grant of a Lease of lands known as plot A17, A18 and A19 Plantation Peters Hall owned by NICIL, without the necessary Board and Cabinet approval to do same and for the purposes other than that of NICIL.

A third charge states that HeathLondon, Bond and Jermaine Richmond, between August 1, 2017 and November 30, 2020, conspired together and with others to defraud NICIL and its sole shareholder, the Government of Guyana, of property interest in land, namely the Grant of a Lease of lands known as plot A1, A2, A3, A4 Plantation Peters Hall, owned by NICIL, without the necessary Board and Cabinet approval to do same and for the purposes other than that of NICIL.

Bond, it is alleged, was the recipient of some US$952,800 for the sale of lease rights for the Peters Hall lands. It is unclear if that transaction was reversed since the lands were repossessed.

In the case of Arken Group Inc, located at 34 Third Street, Alberttown, Georgetown, it was leased 20.8 acres in four plots by NICIL– three at 5 acres and the other at 5.8 acres. The lands were not advertised and as a result there was no Board or Cabinet approval of the deal. The date of execution of the lease was stated as 9 May, 2018, and the company agreed to a 20year lease.

The annual cost for the lease was US$16,224, translating to US$324,480 for the 20-year period.

GLASS

No restrictions were applied and the business sold its leasehold rights of 10 acres to GLASS Holdings Inc. on October 10, 2019 for $200 million. GLASS Holdings paid the sum in two installments of US$195,000 and US$757,000 and according to the terms of their agreement with Arken, was given an irrevocable Power of Attorney. They were required to continue payments and meet the terms of the lease.

However, according to Managing Director of GLASS Holdings Inc., Glenn Low-A-Chee, when he went to pay his lease fee he was shocked to learn that the deal had come under scrutiny.

He had written to NICIL asking for help and guidance on moving forward.

“Our company GLASS Holdings Inc. is a majority Guyanese-owned limited liability company that provides services to the oil and gas sector… pursuant to the expansions of our operations, we were interested in acquiring land – whether through a purchase or lease – for the purpose of constructing a warehouse. The size location and permitted land use of the land was critical to our development,” he explained to NICIL Chairman Radha Krishna

Sharma, as he enquired about the purchase of the lease.

“The Lease Agreement and all documents and procedures to effect the transfer of the Leasehold/ Lessee rights from Arken to GLASS Holdings were prepared and processed in compliance with the lease (number provided) and the general rules governing the lease transfer,” he added.

It was to that end that he said he was introducing the company and circumstances of how they acquired the lease, asking NICIL’s help “to guide us through the current evaluation process.”

He said that his company remained committed to the two plots and was willing to cooperate with the agency.

GLASS had proposed the construction and operation of a chemical storage and warehouse facility and laydown yard at the property but it was put on hold by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Sources told the Sunday Stabroek that principals of GLASS have offered to pay market value for their lands as they want to forge ahead with their project. “GLASS has been asking to buy the land at market value,” a source said.

This newspaper understands that Jian Fen Yu has already paid market value on the lease of the lands repossessed from him and has an establishment on it.