Letter To Prime Minister David Cameron, United

Bringing Guyana Into the 21st Century

bowls being purchased at a cost of in excess of US$2,000 or more than G$400,000 per unit for the CJIA Project standing out notoriously2 . Corruption touched nearly all aspects of the PPP’s government, reaching into organizations like the Guyana Rice Producers Association and Guyana Rice Development Board. This resulted in rice farmers being robbed as they were consistently underpaid for their paddy, and in many instances payments were delayed to such an extent that the farmers encountered severe financial problems. Charges of misappropriation of monies at GRDB were subsequently raised3 .

The scale of misappropriation of taxpayers’ money during the PPP administration reached unprecedented proportions with the construction of the Marriott Hotel though NICIL. NICIL was created in 1990 under the Companies Act to hold and manage the assets of the government. Its existence was founded in an understanding between the government of Guyana and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in which it had the principal role of divesting the productive assets of government acquired via nationalization. This was instrumental to returning Guyana to a market-based economy.4

The PPP administration’s decision to use NICIL’s assets, which are property of the state, to invest in productive ventures such as the Marriott project under the guise of boosting economic activity was a clear indication that the organization’s role within the PPP administration now represented a contradiction of its original purpose and function. This action by government represented an injection of anticompetitive forces in the economy, and increased the element of risk to both local and international investors considering their options in Guyana.

2 Kaieteur News - Govt Defends $424,000 Toilet Bowls For CJIA; July 04, 2013. 3 Kaieteur News - Govt Orders Audit Into GRDB; June 24, 2015. 4 Stabroek News - NICIL Examined; April 5, 2015. 2