Minister Mustapha must investigate GuySuCo Directors and Senior Management on this matter

Dear Editor,

Who will lodge a complaint to the Public Procurement Commission, the Office of the Auditor General and the Office of the Vice President of Guyana (the new anti-corruption Tsar) on the massive acts of corruption that has occurred over June 2024, at GuySuCo, pertaining to the aircraft operations?

The Board of Directors constitution the following persons, Ms. Shaleeza Shaw (former Demerara Bank Manager), Mr. Mohamed Raffik (Berbice Businessman), Mr. Tarachand Balgobin (Chairman of NPTAB), Mr. Jairam Pitam (Executive at the Beharry Group), Mr. Mandanlal Ramraj (Deputy Minister of Agriculture), Mr. Aslim Singh (the General Secretary of GAWU) and a few others.

On June 16, 2024, I wrote a letter outlining that some elements of a corrupt act at GuySuCo that started about 6 weeks ago and I called on Minister Zulifikar Mustapha to investigate these Directors and Senior Management on this matter.  To date the situation has deteriorated which mean the inaction of the Minister says a lot about his commitment to good governance. Is this a new NDIA pump station scandal in the making?

What the nation did not find out from my letter was revealed by one Rudesh Jodha in a letter published on June 25, 2024 in the national media. I quote from Jodha’s letter – a “private company was given a multi-million dollar contract”.  To do what?  The truth of the matter will confirm that it was to fly a grounded private sector airplane, owned by a private company that was not working.

How did they fly this grounded private plane at an astronomical fee paid by GuySuCo?  By cannibalising the working GuySuCo airplane for parts to refurbish the private plane.  The propeller and other critical parts were harvested from the state assets and planted on the private sector assets. All the GuySuCo plane needed was routine maintenance which the Aircraft Team at GuySuCo have managed before and are fully capable of managing again but they were instructed to stand down to facilitate this over-priced contract between a corrupt few at GuySuCo and this private company.

Using state assets for private enrichment is a serious issue known as misappropriation of state assets or public asset theft. This situation has weakened the Hon Vice President ability to advocate his message of good governance and procurement malfeasance.  This situation has undermined the public trust in GuySuCo’s Board and Senior Management and by extension the Government of Guyana.  The current CEO Mr. Paul Cheong needs to step up urgently and arrest this situation that is occurring under his watch and continues to this day.

But how could GuySuCo arrive at this juncture when its airplane flew in 2024? I was told that an agriculture executive made a deal with a private businessman to scrap the GuySuCo plane so that the private business can secure a monopoly around this business both in the rice and sugar sector. He has the full support of a corrupt board member. The plan is to double the prices charged to Guysuco from 2025 once the GuySuCo airplane is cannibalised beyond recovery; just like how the PNC left Wales Estate.

When questions were raised at the last board meeting on this matter, one of the leading directors told the others that this decision is politically sponsored.  Is this true Hon. Vice President Jagdeo?

What was even more shocking is that in the board meeting, current CEO Mr. Cheong feigned ignorance and expressed that he had no idea of this deal which occurred under his tutelage.  So is he a rubber stamp like Nagamootoo?

What I did not know at the time when I wrote my first letter on this matter, was that GuySuCo has since paid the private company $30 million for six programmes (that is an average of $5 million per program).  This is shocking since an insider told me that the cost to use the GuySuCo plane does not cost more than $2 million to run a similar program. In a year, GuySuCo will be paying this private company close to $200 million for airplane services, when it can repair its plane for $80 million and this single repair job will give this GuySuCo airplane a new five year operational life and save at least 10 jobs.

The Hon. Vice President should really get down into the corruption at GuySuCo and there is more.  The public awaits the VP’s response.

Yours truly,

Carl Persaud